Family Planning
by panners
Summary: In a desperate bid for his mother to accept Tsuksuhi, Domyouji announces to everyone that Tsukushi is pregnant and carrying his child. The only catch is – she's not. As circumstances threaten to expose their lie, how will they maintain their facade?
1. The joyful news

Author's Note: Rawr, so I lied about starting new stories. Minor editing done due to spelling errors and grammatical mistakes.

Disclaimer: Hana Yori Dango does not belong to me - but the plot of this fanfiction does:)

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter One: The Joyful News

* * *

"Makino. Let's get married," Domyouji announced suddenly, leaning casually against his chair in a small, bustling restaurant.

It was not just the way he said it that irked Tsukushi. It was so casual, so self assured; and the fact that he had made it a statement rather than a question was one which gave Tsukushi no say in it. His arrogance really shone through – she bet he didn't even think that it would be possible for her to reject him.

However, it was the time he chose to propose to her that annoyed her most.

Tsukushi spat out her soup and nearly choked on the noodles. She knew that she had burnt her tongue.

"What did you just say!" She snapped irritably. It wasn't as though she didn't hear him.

"You heard what I just said," he smirked.

"You're an idiot," she retorted, downing a glass of water to appease her tongue. "Do you suppose your mother would let us get married? I barely doubt she's even accepted me, and we're only dating."

_Plus, I'm too young to get married,_ Tsukushi thought. _I have my whole life in front of me. I don't want to be barefoot and pregnant at such a young age._

Domyouji stared at her thoughtfully. "You know, the only way for Mother to accept you is ..."

"What, genius?"

"...if you were pregnant to me and were carrying the future heir to Domyouji Enterprises."

"I AM NOT GOING TO MAKE BABIES WITH YOU AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE!" she yelled, slamming her hands on the table so as to make the bowl of noodles jump dangerously. _Either he was the greatest of mind readers, or just one to come up with the most idiotic ideas_, she thought, her face flushing gloriously.

The other patrons of the little restaurant turned and stared at her, as she blushed and realised how much attention she had drawn upon herself.

"Sit down..." said Tsukasa. "Much as I'd love for it to really happen, I'm not going to force you into doing anything you don't want to. Being the genius that I am, I've come up with other plans."

"You'd better not," said Tsukushi dangerously, knowing very well what his supposed genius encompassed. "What other plans did you come up with?"

"You don't _really_ have to be pregnant to me. All we need is for Mother to _believe_ that you are pregnant."

"Ha ha ha. Like your cynical mother would ever believe that load of bull."

"Oh, she will, if we can fool others into thinking the same thing. If everyone believes something, it'll be taken as fact."

Tsukushi couldn't help but laugh now. "Like anyone is going to believe that."

Little did she realise how very wrong she was.

* * *

When she arrived at school the next day, Tsukushi felt that there were more people talking about her behind her back than usual. She felt it; her highly attuned 'backstabbing radar' told her so - she was sneezing far too much. Not that she really needed the sneezing to prove it; the whispering as she walked by, the finger pointing was more blatantly obvious than usual.

She was thinking of what kind of rumours those nasty backstabbers had come up with this time when Kazuya came bounding up to her in the corridor, and, still gasping, cried out, "Are you really pregnant, Tsukushi?"

The whole corridor's whispering and pointing stopped, and it fell silent as everyone listened in to their conversation. Tsukushi could see their ears enlarge as they listened in.

"Who gave you that idea!" cried Tsukushi, shocked. But somewhere deep inside her mind, she knew who it was...

But, before she could elaborate, someone wrapped an arm protectively around her, and as she turned around, she noticed that it was Domyouji. She felt the anger bubble inside her. _That idiot is spreading malicious rumours about me, isn't he?_

"Yes, she is!" said Domyouji rather loudly, and beamed as he added more fuel to the fire. It really was more of an announcement to the corridor than an answer to Kazuya's question. "She is indeed pregnant - to me."

Tsukushi felt her jaw hit the linoleum floor.

Kazuya looked like he was about to burst into tears as the whole corridor erupted in ferocious whispering and finger pointing that the gossipers were not even bothering to hide anymore. She also noticed that quite a large number of those people had whipped out their mobile phones, either trying to record their conversation, take photos of evidence or just message their friends this big piece of gossip.

"Come on, Makino, we can't have a mum-to-be stressing herself out too much with these rumour-mongers whispering and pointing at her out here." Domyouji, with arm still protectively wrapped around her, guided her out of the building and towards the grassy lawns of Eitoku. "I don't want MY child hurt by these people," he added loftily.

As they were walking there, Tsukushi's numbness from that piece of news of her pregnancy that she did not know about evaporated from her and turned into to anger instead.

"I have beef to pick with you," she snapped, trying to push his arms off her. "Why did you have to tell everyone I was pregnant!"

Domyouji shrugged as though he did nothing wrong. "To make Mother believe that you're pregnant, the first thing to do is to get everyone else to believe it."

"You didn't have to tell the whole bloody school I was pregnant!"

"Yes, I did." He really thought he did absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, he looked as though he was doing her a favour.

"What's going to become of my reputation now?" she shrilled hysterically. "People are going to think I'm some sort of teenage mum who bedded you just to get a stab at your family fortune! And, you arrogant Eitoku students already hate me enough for being poor - I bet I'll never hear the end of me being a poor AND pregnant teenage mum."

"You never had much of a reputation to start with," he sniggered. "In fact, I think the fact that you carry precious Domyouji family sperm inside you will boost your reputation."

"You idiot! Argh!" She had a feeling that she was going to get more and more unpopular because people will obviously believe that she only carried his child so she would have a part of the Domyouji fortune. They finally made it across the lawn, where the other members of the F4 were waiting for her.

"Woah, woah. It's mum-to-be Makino!" said Nishikaido in grand voice. "Congrats, you made Domyouji's dreams come true!"

"Shut up." Domyouji and Tsukushi said simultaneously

"Ooh, what a fine couple they make, even speaking up for each other," teased Mimasaka, dodging as Domyouji tried to land a blow on him.

A thought suddenly hit Tsukushi.

"How did you manage to get the news out so fast?" she mused.

"I sort of mentioned that you were pregnant and it was all a hush-hush secret for now to Akira and Soujiro, and before you know it, it was all over the school," said Domyouji, sounding very pleased with his genius.

Tsukushi made a mental note to never, ever tell Mimasaka and Nishikaido her secrets, and suddenly felt a strange urge to strangle the two of them. But, deep inside all her anger and resentment, she was mildly amazed at how quickly word of mouth had spread throughout Eitoku - and how powerful Mimasaka and Nishikaido's mouths were.

Rui, who had been keeping quiet until now, suddenly spoke up, and said, "How many months now?"

Domyouji froze. It was obvious that he hadn't thought about these details in his blissful announcement that he was soon to be a Dad.

Mimasaka and Nishikaido turned around, and stared at him with interest. Even Tsukushi was curious; would he be able to hit the mark and answer with a month that would describe her physiology correctly?

"Actually, guys... there's something I should've told you earlier," said Domyouji.

* * *

Next Chapter: Woah! What's Domyouji going to tell them? Stay tuned!

If I get enough feedback that tells me that people are interested in this story and that it is worth my time, I'll continue it; otherwise, I'll focus more on my Hunter X Hunter fic.


	2. Tsukushi vs the rest of the world

Author's Note: Thank you for your kind feedback and advice! Tsukushi hasn't defended herself much in the shock of all this. But I'll make sure she'll kick Tsukasa's ass for this!

In response to Snuffy's question, I suppose that Rui still has feelings for her, given that this isn't in an alternate universe and I'm trying to stick to canon as much as possible. But, he's given up on Tsukushi because she's Tsukasa's love interest. However, he'll keep defending her, just as he had always done (in his own special way...)!

Chapter 1 was pretty much to establish the plot and kick things into motion; I'll develop it more, I promise!

Rating has been changed from K+ to T due to mentions of making babies and slightly crass words. However, I won't be putting any rude words in at all since I believe a point can be made without having to go so low. But that's just me.

Big thanks to Moonlight Storm for helping me pick out some errors; Frontpage tends to eat the spaces between my words.

Edit again due to more landmines a.k.a space-eating bugs.

Disclaimer: Hana Yori Dango does not belong to me! But the plot of this fanfic does.

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter Two: Tsukushi versus the rest of the world

* * *

"Mmm? What is it?" asked Nishikaido. "So you already know if it's a boy or a girl?" 

"She's not pregnant," said Domyouji flatly.

"Oh, stop denying it," laughed Mimasaka, making a habitual hand flick. "Was Tsukasa an animal in bed, or what?"

"How would I know?" snapped Tsukushi. "I'm still a virgin!"

There was a long silence in which only the rustling grass could be heard.

"Say that again?" said Mimasaka.

"IT MEANS I'M NOT PREGNANT, YOU GREAT BIG FLYING BABOONS!"

"You're lying," murmured Mimasaka. "This can't be true. And I'm not a great big flying baboon either, Tsukasa is."

"Actually, it's true," said Domyouji. "Disappointed as I am, it's true. I meant the bit about her being not pregnant, not me being a flying baboon."

Mimasaka and Nishikaido looked at each other, as if they were about to cry. Rui's face was as impassive and blank as ever as he yawned and tried to fight off the waves of sleepiness trying to take over him. He knew this was a somewhat important event, but sleep was so much more enticing.

"Tsukasa! We thought you'd finally stepped over the barrier into manhood! We had such high hopes for you!" sobbed Nishikaido, stylized manga tears pouring down his face, his lips upturned into a pout, fists clenched in a dramatic pose.

"Shut up!" Domyouji grabbed Nishikaido by the collar and gave him a massive headbutt. But in the middle of his succession of rapid fire headbutts, Tsukushi stood up so suddenly, fists clenched, in such a wave of fury that even Domyouji stopped his blitzkrieg.

"Will you all stop your childish arguing? Look, guys. This isn't funny anymore. I'm the real victim here," snapped Tsukushi, looking very red and angry indeed. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. "You guys really like torturing me, don't you? What do you think the stupid Eitoku F4 groupies are going to say now?"

"They will, obviously, be very envious of you because you carry the pride of the Domyouji clan," stated Domyouji.

"No, fool!" she snapped, giving him a mighty slap. "I bet there's going to be more nasty rumours about how I'm doing this for money. And you idiots obviously forgot the biggest problem of all – how are going to get a real baby out in nine months time?"

"What? So THAT was your biggest problem?" laughed Mimasaka. "The solution's too easy. All you have to do is -"

"- really make a baby with Tsukasa," finished Nishikaido. "I volunteer to teach you the fine art of love making. I know more than the Karma Sutra can ever teach you."

With that, Domyouji recommenced his rapid fire headbutting of Nishikaido.

"How are you going to make her look more and more pregnant over the next few months?" piqued Rui, wiping his eyes free of sleep. Everyone jumped; they had forgotten that Rui was even there due to his lack of input. He had fallen asleep listening to their arguments and had woken up at this fairly crucial moment.

How very typical of Rui to think so calmly and practically in such a dire situation. Tsukushi felt very grateful for his support and his level headedness.

"We'll think of it along the way," grinned Domyouji. "Trust me."

How very typical of Domyouji to think so rashly and irresponsibly in such a dire situation. Tsukushi felt like belting some sense into him with her fists of doom. This plan isn't going to work at all without thorough planning.

"I think we should quit this stupid lie before it gets so big we can't get out of it," snapped Tsukushi. "In fact, I'm going to explain to everyone right now, before this gets out of hand."

With that, she stormed off, back towards the school buildings.

"Wait, Makino!" cried Mimasaka. "We'll think it through! Hey, come back!"

But she refused to listen and marched straight back, the same look of determination on her face as the time she declared war on the F4.

"Should we just stop this before this gets out of hand?" said Nishikaido, looking worried.

"No," said Domyouji, looking fairly dangerous himself. At that moment, Nishikaido really understood why Makino would be the only girl good enough for him – she's the only one who was just as dangerous as him. It was so typical to fight fire with fire. "How dare she try to destroy my brilliant plan so recklessly... so, she doesn't want us to be together, huh? I'LL FORCE HER!"

"What do you plan to do?" mused Rui.

"I will make sure the secret is never spilt. All she'll be doing is talking to thin air," smiled Domyouji, feeling his heart beat faster. This was like the very first time he had been challenged by Tsukushi. It had his heart racing; it had been the very first time a student ever challenged him, to stand up against him - and he had enjoyed it. It was a whole new experience, to have had his authority questioned. He felt up to the challenge again this time; except, this time, he would be the winner.

Rui shrugged. He had a feeling that Domyouji's solution to this situation was worse than Tsukushi's.

* * *

By noon, most of the people's curiosity had taken hold of them so strongly that they had flung aside their pride and stooped so low as to ask Tsukushi bluntly if she was pregnant. Each time they did that, she gave them a seething, dangerous look, and an answer that plainly meant no. 

However, she found that despite denying that she was pregnant so plainly and obviously, no one seemed to believe her. _The Eitoku students must be fairly stupid to not be able to understand my straightforward answer, _she thought.

"Are you pregnant?" asked a nobody-in-particular student. "It's true, isn't it?"

"No, I'm not!" It was the one hundred and sixth time she had answered that today.

The guy looked at her with a look of suspicious disbelief. "Are you sure... but the F4 said..."

"Well, THEY'RE WRONG!" She screamed so angrily that the student looked surprised, tripped over and ran away before she could kick him.

It was then that she realized why nobody seemed to believe her. As she walked along the corridors with everyone still whispering and pointing at her, she caught a glimpse of Mimasaka talking to a student inside a classroom.

"... Of course she's pregnant! It's the happiest thing to happen to the F4 ever since they started going out with each other!"

With that, she rushed into the classroom and sent a flying kick towards Mimasaka's head, before running off again. It was a pretty spectacular hit and run attack for a supposedly pregnant woman.

But then she noticed Nishikaido and Domyouji doing the same thing in different parts of the school. Time and time again, she did a hit and run flying kick or uppercut before running off and trying to explain to more students that she wasn't pregnant. But, even for a girl as strong as her, she didn't have the energy to keep up with so many hit and run attacks against three members of the F4.

Newton's third law of motion seemed to apply to gossip spreading in Eitoku. For every action, there is an equal but opposite action. This was definitely the case here, except that it was her word against the F4's, and their word did not seem equal to hers; it seemed to far outweigh her word.

No one was going to believe the word of one poor and hated student that everyone mocked when there was the word of three beloved student leaders stating the opposite thing.

By afternoon, she pretty much gave up denying her pregnancy. _I guess I'm used to this stupid rumours about me, _she thought_. I don't need the approval of these people; I don't need to care about what they think..._

The questions about her supposed pregnancy still hadn't ceased by afternoon. People, who were probably looking for confirmation of the news from the F4, still came up to her and asked the same thing.

By that time, she had come up with a set of standard responses, which she found amusing to say because of the look on the people's faces when she said it, especially since her tummy was flat. She wanted to test the Eitoku student's intellect; were they smart enough to be able to tell if there was any truth in her words?

"Yeah, I'm expecting septuplets. How am I going to name them all? Their daddy isn't helping at all, he says he wants them to be called Tsukasa Jr, Tsukasa Jr I, Tsukasa Jr II... he's forgotten that some of them could be girls! Oh, they will be laughed at by other kids, a girl named after her Dad!"

"It's been nine months, but my baby hasn't grown one bit! I'm starting to wonder if it's there at all..."

"The doctor said it'll come out in twelve months instead of nine. Is my baby really that abnormal? Such a lazy baby, just like its father!"

The questions ceased by last period because the news finally spread that she was confirming everything that the F4 stated as truth. The menacing, unwelcoming glares, the rude whispering and finger pointing stopped as the student body finally recognized what a potentially powerful woman she would be. She would be the future Condelezza Rice of Eitoku, with her power only eclipsed by one other man; the George Bush of Eitoku, Domyouji Tsukasa.

The whole attitude of the student body changed, and took one the airs of one like the first time she was 'officially' dating Domyouji. No more whispers about what a promiscuous woman she was, how she only slept with him for money; it was all admiring glances, all friendly greetings in corridors, all gushes of "Kya! Tsuki!" and little gifts here and there. It was all the airs of friendliness from fake friends now.

Even the teachers had taken on an attitude bordering on worship towards her. She had become some kind of Eitoku goddess. Nevermind that this was a premarital affair; never mind that this kid is still, technically, a bastard; she was carrying a child bearing the Domyouji name and that was all that mattered.

"Before we start this lesson," said her history teacher, "I'd like to congratulate Miss Makino on this piece of wonderful news."

The whole class erupted into applause and cheers as Tsukushi tried to ignore them by laying her head into her arms and burying herself in it.

As the lesson progressed, she noticed reverent glances towards her, and heard people whisper things like, "Let's bake her a cake! I hope she likes cake... I wonder if she likes green-tea flavoured cakes! But it might not be good for the baby..."

Tsukushi really hoped this lesson would end so that she could rush home before she gets surrounded by fake admirers. This lesson seemed longer than usual, with everyone looking at her and whispering.

_Hurry up_, she willed. _Please, hurry up, bell, please, save me. _

The bell took its sweet time and finally rang; but before she could leap up and sprint out the door, Domyouji came and blocked off her escape.

The whole class stopped packing their bags and watched with interest as he stood there, blocking the doorway. Tsukushi tried dodging him by going left - he stopped her there; she tried going right – but he was too fast for her.

"What are you doing? Get out of my way!" she snapped.

"_Say it_," someone said in a commanding whisper behind Domyouji. She peered underneath Domyouji's arm that was draped against the doorframe and noticed Nishikaido hidden in the shadow behind Domyouji. Her eyes narrowed as Nishikaido looked up at her from his crouched position and smiled sheepishly.

"I'm ..." began Domyouji, flushing up. _Oh no, what now?_ She thought.

"I'm... here to take you home..." continued Domyouji.

This was getting tedious. Tsukushi didn't really like the fact that her whole class was watching her, either. Some of the students gasped, as if theyweren't expecting it. It wasn't going to do her any good for them to see them act like a couple expecting a child.

"I'm here to take you home..." repeated Domyouji.

"_Say it_!" commanded Nishikaido, a little more loudly.

"... HUNNYBUNS!" shouted Domyouji, his face instantly changing to a glorious shade of red, very similar to a colour of nail polish called 'Deep Red Chili Flavoured Kisses' that the girls sitting behind her were trying on and had insisted that Tsukushi tried on too because they were a 'posse'.

Nishikaido slapped his forehead and sighed at the very unromantic way Domyouji said the word 'hunnybuns'.

Tsukushi's eyes narrowed at Nishikaido.

"Did you teach him that?" she whispered dangerously.

"I thought you two might look more like a loving couple if he used cute nicknames for you," said Nishikaido meekly, as Tsukushi's shadow loomed menacingly over him. "I was going to suggest that you call him Muff-"

"Well, you're WRONG!" she yelled, trying to step on his fingers. But before she could do so, Domyouji grabbed her arm and muttered, still red in the face, "Let's just go."

He raced off down the corridor, still dragging Tsukushi as people peered out of classrooms and pressed their faces against the windows, trying to get a better glimpse of them.

They finally got to the school gate, and, huffing from trying to keep up with his fast pace, Tsukushi said, "Thanks for rescuing me out of the classroom. See you tomorrow!"

"No, I'm really taking you home."

"There's no need, I'm fine. I'm not really pregnant anyway. Bye!"

"Hey! That's not how an expectant couple is supposed to act! I'm supposed to be loving and caring and take you home..." said Domyouji. "... Soujiro said," he added in a murmur.

"No, seriously, I'm fine," she said. "There's no need, no one knows if you really drove me home."

Domyouji got impatient with his lame excuses, and, grabbing her by the waist, he lifted her up and carried her into the car.

"Hey! Put me down! There REALLY is no need for you to take me home!"

"Actually, there is," smirked Domyouji, as he made sure Tsukushi was not going to try to break out of his limousine anytime soon. "I'm going to tell your parents."

* * *

Next Chapter: Oh noes! What's he going to tell her parents? The lies or the truth? Find out in the next chapter, a most exciting installment of Family Planning! 

Please continue to advise me of anything which you feel is important; I enjoy reading people's comments as they sometimes have even better ideas than I have about what should/could happen.


	3. Mama and Papa jump for joy

Author's Note: Howdy! Thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoy it! I'm putting this out now since I have to work for the next few days...

Once again, the document editing thingo has eaten my spaces. Please inform me where the spaces are missing from two usually distinct words! Thank you.

Disclaimer: Hana Yori Dango does not belong to me! But the plot of this fanfic does.

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter Three: Mama and Papa jump for joy

* * *

"No! You can't announce this sort of stuff to them! They're going to stop looking for a job altogether!" she yelped, and struggled to get out of the limousine. But it was too late; Domyouji got in and slammed the door shut just as she crawled across the seat. It ended up having the effect of her crawling across his lap. Domyouji was in absolute bliss, and his face reflected it - his eyes had rolled back into a dreamy look.

Tsukushi suddenly realised what she was doing and quickly crawled back to her side of the limousine. His face was still blank and looking as though he had reached enlightenment; she also noticed he was drooling as if he were either having a perverted dream or had tasted something yummy.

"OI!" she yelled, after he didn't respond to her waving her hands in front of him or blowing into his face. Her voice brought him back to reality.

"What? What!" Domyouji snapped out of his trance and realised that his chauffer had not started the car at all due to the lack of instruction from him. "Oh, right. To Makino's, if you will."

Throughout the short trip her place, she tried using every tactic in her power to convince him that spreading this rumour further would be futile. Firstly, there was the 'cute girl charms.'

"Oh please, Domyouji! I... I can't handle this sort of pressure from my parents! Kyaa!" she cried, tears sparkling in her eyes, her hand grabbing Domyouji's hands and holding them in a gentle caress.

"Don't do that, Makino. It's creepy." He really didn't like cutesy, fake girls that were submissive. She nearly forgot why he liked her; because she was strong, and had a dominating personality. Since being cute didn't work against him, she decided handle him the usual way.

"If you do mention anything to my parents, I swear I will kick you so hard that you will end up in orbit around the world."

Domyouji blushed. _It's working_, she thought.

"I ... I... " he muttered. "I love it when you challenge me. It's too cute... but you've won against me too many times. This time, just this once, I have to win. For our sakes."

_Gah!_ she thought, _total opposite effect of what I wanted!_

She changed tactic over and over but it had no effect on his resolve; in fact, it made him more and more determined. By the time they got to her place, he marched straight there with such an air of certainty about him that even if what he was saying was blatantly a lie, it would pass off as truth.

Just as he was about to knock on the door (for lack of a doorbell made him do so), Tsukushi stepped in front of him.

"Oh no, you don't. You're not spreading this any further than the boundaries of Eitoku. I've given you enough free rein over this."

"I'm doing it. The more people that know about it, the more fact than fiction it will become."

"You're doing this ... Over my dead body!" She wrestled his hand out of the way. Domyouji's other hand swept forward to try and knock the door, but Tsukushi grabbed that hand too. They wrestled over and over, grappling each other's arms and legs, as Domyouji tried to knock the door without knocking Tsukushi out while she tried to stop him knocking the door and hopefully knock him out to prevent this most threatening development from happening.

With all this shuffling, twisting, squirming and grappling causing such a commotion, it wasn't any wonder that it could be heard through the cheap, thin walls of the current Makino family apartment. Tsukushi could also hear a bit of what Mama and Papa were declaring loudly through the walls; she knew they were probably shouting to get themselves heard over their wrestling match.

"Why, Papa, I wonder what kind of hooligans are outside our fortress right now?"

"This is the sort of riff raff I wouldn't want our lovely daughter who _goes to Eitoku and is dating Master Domyouji _to be associating with, Mama." Tsukushi blushed. They seemed to have placed particular emphasis on 'goes to Eitoku' and 'dating Master Domyouji.'

"Papa, you must clear our front door of this kind of vermin!"

"Being the brave man that I am, I will protect my family from such unruly youth!" At that moment, Papa threw the door open in a momentary show of grandeur and power. "Go away, you pesky degenerate children, we don't buy-"

It was then that he noticed Tsukushi and Tsukasa, wrapped around each other in a very strange and awkward position.

"Um, hi, Papa."

_Oh crap, the very last people I wanted Domyouji to see_, thought Tsukushi.

Papa stared at them, and looked as though he would cry in happiness. His lower lip was trembling.

"Well, Papa? Did you manage to silence these frivolous adolescents?" called Mama, her voice trailing from inside the apartment. "I have the frying pan here. If they still refuse to leave, I'll get rid of them."

Mama came out with a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. She was about to swing it at them when she, too, noticed that it was Tsukushi and _Master_ Domyouji. She also saw what a strange position they seemed to be in; Tsukushi had her arms around Domyouji, which would have looked fairly romantic if it had not been for the fact that her hands were around his neck, trying to strangle him. Domyouji's arms were around her waist; again, it would have looked so lovely if the motive was trying to be intimate. But he was trying to lift Tsukushi out of the radius that allowed her much shorter arms to strangle him.

Even though Mama had gotten it right the first time - that they were behaving like hooligans outside her house - she instantly forgot it at the sight of this scene. Her eyes selectively chose not to see Tsukushi strangling Domyouji. To her, it looked as thought they were locked in a passionate embrace and were about to eat each other's faces out with such vigour that it would be a surprise if their faces were intact after this.

Mama's jaw dropped. She looked as though she was about to cry from happiness as well.

"Hello Auntie, hello Uncle," smiled Domyouji, in his ever so polite voice. He seemed to have conveniently chosen to ignore the fact that he had been called hooligan, riff raff, vermin, unruly, pesky, and degenerate just a few minutes before by the very same people. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"

Mama and Papa nodded, their lips curled up as if trying to hold back tears. They suddenly noticed their lack of hospitality, for they were still standing at the door with Tsukushi and Domyouji locked in a tangle of arms and legs.

"Master Domyouji, do please come in! If we knew you were coming, we would have prepared something earlier!" cried Mama, throwing the door open, all tears having evaporated in an instant.

"Do excuse our mess, Master Domyouji!" said Papa, rushing around as he tried to pack away the paraphernalia lying on the bare floor.

"No! He can't come in!" yelled Tsukushi, and she was promptly silenced by Mama's frying pan.

"Please excuse her rudeness! She hasn't had quite the upbringing as you have had!"

Domyouji stepped in, and carefully took his shoes off.

"Anything to drink, sir? We only have water and tea, how very embarrassing of us! If we knew you were coming, we would've gotten some champagne!"

"Thank you very much for your hospitality, Auntie and Uncle! I don't really need a drink," he smiled.

"Ah, we know that our drinks are too impure for your lips!" said Papa.

"No, it's not that!" said Domyouji. "I didn't mean that out of rudeness. But I believe we should save the drinks for later, because I have wonderful news for you-"

"- NO! He doesn't have any news!" yelled Tsukushi, "He's just-"

Mama Makino swung the frying pan at Tsukushi again; but as she fell backwards, Domyouji caught her gently and she lay there on his lap, slightly dazed.

"Please excuse her again! It has been my biggest regret that we didn't raise her properly..."

"Anyway, Auntie, Uncle - no, I should be calling you Mother and Father from now on," said Domyouji. His timing in saying that was just perfect. He had Mama and Papa's full attention.

"Argh.. no," muttered Tsukushi, a little disorientated from the two blows to her head. "I... we... no... mmmm!"

Domyouji quickly covered her mouth with his hands as she struggled weakly to get them off her. Those blows really affected her cognition.

"Well, how should I put this joyful news? Um," said Domyouji. He really was quite a good actor. "Tsukushi is... she's..."

"What is it?"

"She's pregnant to me. With my child," he said, smiling serenely at them and gave them a slightly abashed look.

There was a momentary silence before Mama and Papa started screaming and jumping for joy. Papa did his strange twirling dance; Mama started juggling a few frying pans with such skill that one could almost say she used to belong to the circus.

"Did you hear _that, _Papa?"

"I'm going to be a grandfather! To the heir of the Domyouji Corporation!"

"Our grandson is worth more than our whole family put together!"

"Excuse me," said Domyouji politely. "Sorry to interrupt you, but please hear me out!"

"Sorry... it's just that, we finally have hope for our family! With Papa being so useless..." said Mama.

"Would it be alright for Tsukushi to come and stay with me? I promise to take care of her well," said Domyouji, cutting in before they could start leaping for joy again. He really needn't promise them anything; they would be just as happy for Tsukushi to live with him, promise or no promise. "No offence intended, but I don't believe this is the sort of environment that an expectant mother should be living in before she gives birth."

"Yes, yes, I agree with you! She won't receive adequate nutrition here!" cried Mama.

"Or care!" said Papa.

"We'd definitely neglect her!"

"So she's better off staying with you!"

"So it's agreed?" said Domyouji.

"Definitely!" said Papa. "In fact, I'll go help pack her belongings so she can move in with you. In fact, it would be better for her to stay with you forever! We just can't separate a loving couple now, can we, Mama?"

"Of course not, Papa!"

"Mmm..." murmured Tsukushi, conscious enough to understand what was going on, "I can't.. must stay here...no...don't make me...don't wanna..."

"No, you can't! We don't have enough room for two more," snapped Mama, as though Tsukushi was an outsider and that her tummy would take up the space of another adult.

"Shall I fetch her belongings then?" said Papa.

"Please do!" said Domyouji. "I'll get my chauffer to carry it down later."

Ten minutes later, with her few worldly possessions packed into a box, Domyouji bade farewell to his newly dubbed 'Mother' and 'Father'. Tsukushi was still knocked out cold from her Mama's fairly hefty blows. His chauffer carried the her box down, and Domyouji carried the semi-conscious Tsukushi in his arms down to the car.

"Bye bye, Aun-, I mean, Mother and Father," Domyouji said, giving them a jovial wave. "Are you sure it's okay? Won't you miss Makino?"

"We will, but your need is greater than ours!" said Mama, waving a white hanky around in a gesture of mock-sadness. "Bon Voyage! Auf Wierdersehn! Sayonara! Good bye!"

"Tsukushi will come back and stay with you, should you ever miss her," said Domyouji.

"No, don't come back!" said Papa. "I hope she stays with you forever!"

"I hope so too." smiled Domyouji.

Giving them one last wave through the rearview mirror as the limousine drove off, Domyouji turned back around to nurse Tsukushi's two new bumps (on her head, not her tummy) with an ice pack from the fridge.

"Why... why'd you do such a stupid thing..." muttered Tsukushi.

"It's for the better. If you stayed here, sooner or later, they'd find out that you aren't pregnant. But at my place, where there is so much more room, it's much easier to hide."

"I ... don't mean... that," she murmured. "Why did you... tell them... such a stupid... lie...they're going to get so lazy now..."

"Hey! Don't call my ideas stupid!"

"You're stupid..."

And so, with these arguments between a half conscious Tsukushi and a blissfully wild Domyouji, the limo sailed towards the Domyouji estate where Tsukushi would be living for the next few months.

With Tsukushi finally succumbing to unconsciousness, Domyouji pulled out his phone and dialled. "Hello, Rui? I need your help. Could you come over to my place tomorrow? ... Yes, it's an important matter that we need to discuss... yes, yes, get Soujiro and Akira as well... Makino? She's staying at my place from now on, so she'll be there too...NO! You idiot, I'm not going to do anything naughty to her - YET...yeah, well, okay. See you tomorrow."

* * *

Next Chapter: The F4 pay her a visit - and discuss some _oh so important_ matters. 


	4. The F4's expedition into the library

Author's Note: I like to write about how things are going with the fic in author's notes. Hm, let's see. The hits to this fic have eclipsed those to my much older Hunter X Hunter fanfic. Amazing. But then again, they had stat resets back then, not that it really has anything to do with the fic itself... I'm also guessing that there is greater readership in the Hana Yori Dango fandom than in the HxH one; despite having less fics in this category, there seems to be more readers.

I am also aiming to at least get one chapter out a week; but sometimes it may not go all to plan, so please bear with me! I try my best, honestly! It's actually quite ambitious of me, since I am the type that is barely at home.

Being the superbly organised person that I am (yeah, right), I've already planned up to the ending for this fanfic! Weehee! The only thing left to do is to write it up and work out its details. But yes, I have a general idea of the events that will build up - planning is definitely needed because one event will affect another.

Disclaimer: Hana Yori Dango does not belong to me! But the plot of this fanfic does.

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter Four: The F4's expedition into the library.

* * *

"Nrrgghh..." muttered Tsukushi, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

She looked around at her surroundings. This wasn't her room; it was large, spacious and furnished lavishly. She looked around at the tasteful yet familiar decor and instantly realised where she was - one of the many guest rooms of the Domyouji mansion.

"So, you finally woke up, sleepy head," smiled Rui placidly.

"Now I know where you get that inhuman strength of yours," said Domyouji. "You take on after your mother. Like mother, like daughter."

"I heard it took her two blows to knock you out." said Nishikaido. "With a frying pan, that is."

"And yet, your skull didn't even crack. Poor people must have thicker skulls," said Mimasaka.

"What are you all doing here?" she muttered. "Were you all watching me sleep... wait, how long did I sleep?"

"Eighteen hours, and no, as if we'd want to watch you sleep. We'd only just arrived." said Mimasaka. "But I reckon Tsukasa _did_ watch you for all eighteen hours. Have you wondered how you manage to get out of the car and into this room?"

The truth of it hit Tsukushi as Domyouji caved in to his violent tendencies and gave Mimasaka a taste of his fists.

"I called them here," said Domyouji, "Not to make stupid comments but to help me - I mean, us, - with our plan."

Tsukushi slapped her forehead. _So he still hasn't given up..._

"To be honest, I think this has got to be one of the best ideas that Tsukasa has ever come up with in his life," said Nishikaido, "But given that Tsukasa was the one who thought this up, there's still many flaws."

"Firstly, if you wanted everyone to believe you, you shouldn't have told us the truth behind it," said Rui. "But that's said and done because of Tsukasa's stupidity. Now that we know about it, we will help you with everything we can."

"That's right," said Mimasaka. "The more people that know about the fact that you're not pregnant, the greater the chance that it will be leaked out. Besides us, I don't think you should tell any more people about it."

"So, I can't tell Sakurako or Shigeru or Kazuya?" said Tsukushi.

"Nope."

"Not even Yuki?"

"Sad to say, not even her."

"Wouldn't having a few of our close friends know help? I mean, many hands make light work?" said Tsukushi.

"I think we should play this safe. We don't need blabbermouths. After all, it's a very delicate plan we're working out," said Nishikaido. "Plus, with the F4's brilliant minds, we're bound to come up with the perfect plan."

Tsukushi couldn't help but think that the biggest gossip queens of them all (no, all of Eitoku) were Nishikaido and Mimasaka, and having them know the plan would be more dangerous than having Sakurako, Shigeru, Kazuya, and Yuki _combined_ knowing it. She also had a feeling that anything that the F4 puts their 'brilliant' minds to would end up being quite a fiasco; she thought back to their failed plans back when they tried to get Domyouji and her together. In Tsukushi's mind, Sakurako would probably come up with something more clever than the F4 ever could; she had the sly, evil and cunning mind needed for this kind of stuff. Thinking back to the scheme Sakurako had developed that lead to even more intense bullying of Tsukushi really made her blood boil, despite being so long ago.

"Secondly," said Rui, cutting through Tsukushi's train of thoughts. "You guys will need to acquire some knowledge about pregnancy, and plan this out carefully. It would look suspicious if you didn't know how many months pregnant you were, or some basic knowledge about parenting."

"And if you didn't have a tummy to prove how many months pregnant you were," added Nishikaido.

"You might even need to obtain some proof of your pregnancy. I doubt Tsukasa's mother would just take your word for it," said Mimasaka.

"I bet you only told us your secret because you couldn't name how many months pregnant Tsukushi was," Rui added accusingly.

"'COURSE I KNOW!" said Domyouji hysterically, trying to change the subject. "I just felt like informing my dear friends of the truth."

"Well, how many months then?"

He wasn't going to escape this question.

"Ten." Domyouji had a very smug look on his face, and looked so confident about it that had not scientific evidence disproved his theory, people would most likely be mislead to believe likewise.

"He really IS an idiot," muttered Mimasaka, slapping his forehead. He'd just verbalised Tsukushi's thoughts; Domyouji's stupidity, in her eyes, had just reached new lows.

"You need to do some serious researching on this subject, my friend," said Nishikaido sympathetically, patting Domyouji on the back.

* * *

This was how Tsukushi found herself being dragged towards Eitoku's vast library the very next morning. As she was about to enter class for her first period, she found the F4 waiting for her outside the classroom.

"C'mon Makino, we have some work to do," said Nishikaido.

"But I can't afford to cut class," she said, "Tuition is too expensive."

_Plus, I don't want to contribute any further to this stupidity, _she thought.

"Too bad, this concerns your baby," said Mimasaka in a particularly loud voice for the benefit of the class that had gathered around the doorway trying to get a better glimpse of the F4.

"You didn't have to be this loudly!" hissed Tsukushi. "And no, I'm not cutting any more classes, I've done it too much this year, I need to catch up on study..."

"Oh no, you don't," said Domyouji. "If you don't come, I'm going to make you come."

He heaved her up into his arms as she kicked and struggled, trying to break free. But Domyouji was still physically stronger than she was. Despite her lashing at his face and scratching, he managed to get her to the library without retaliating against her. They arrived at the library, and at Tsukushi's screams of "Let go of me!", Domyouji dropped her most inelegantly onto the floor.

"You know," mused Nishikaido, "Despite having gone to Eitoku Academy for all of my life, I've never stepped inside the library ever."

"I have," said Rui, to everyone's surprise, "I've tried this place out as a sleeping spot. It was not good. Too many girls were hiding behind the shelves whispering about me, so I had to move back to my emergency staircase."

"Well, let's take this brave step into the unknown!" Mimasaka laughed gaily as he pulled the glass doors open and pushed them inside.

There were not many students in there at this time of the day; most either did not have a free period at that time or were simply not inclined to cut classes as the F4 habitually did. Even if they did have time off, most Eitoku students would not have gone to the library unless it was necessary; it was seen as a hangout for nerds, losers, those without friends, and the majority preferred to be absorbed in the excesses of materialism - in the form of shopping.

The library was fairly quiet, and a few students were in there reading a book or doing some research. The F4 certainly had a strong presence - as they entered, the students who were studying looked up at them with a look of admiring awe. They found themselves a little corner of the library to begin their research, but as they were taking books out, they found that the students who were in there had crept up behind the shelves and were spying at them from in between the gaps of books.

So much for the secrecy of their operation; but it was lucky that no word had been said about the lies behind it. At first, they tried tolerating it, but news seemed to have spread that the F4 were 'studying' in the library. It got more and more crowded as the school came to peek at them studying from behind the shelves, and it was on that day that a new record had been set - the number of people gathered in Eitoku library at any one time.

Domyouji could handle it no more. He did not want any more people knowing the truth than was needed to. As the whispering and the pointing grew to an amount that they could no longer bear, Domyouji stood up, slammed his book shut, and ran towards the groups hiding behind the shelves, screaming, "GET OUT! LEAVE!"

Such was the fearsome nature of his look and ferocity of his words that the students started screaming and running for their lives out of the library. Even the librarian, who had hidden behind the shelves to watch, ran out and had to spend the rest of the day in the staff room. A new record had once again been set; it was the very first time that the librarian had been kicked out of the library in her service of twenty years.

It was only the five of them left in the library after that.

"Okay, let's really get started," said Mimasaka, slapping his hands together enthusiastically. He really seemed to be enjoying this. "We're going to make your pregnancy so convincing that even you'd be fooled."

"But isn't the aim to get Domyouji's mother fooled?" said Rui.

"Yes, and that too. Well, we're going to make it realistic!" said Nishikaido, clapping his hands together in glee.

Tsukushi could tell that they were enjoying this.

Mimasaka and Nishikaido set themselves loose over the library and came back carrying various books in their arms. Domyouji did a smarter thing by pulling out various recent scientific and medical journals, and Rui went off to search on the internet, coming back with some hard copies of various websites. Tsukushi refused point blank to participate any further in this sorry affair.

They began sifting through the useless information (which Domyouji's selection of journals had a lot of; it was mostly research articles of various irrelevant topics) and managed to strip it down to the most basic information they needed.

"I can't believe that the first research I ever did in school was not even homework that needed to be handed in," muttered Nishikaido, a comment totally ignored unsympathetically by Tsukushi. After all, he was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of this stupid plan.

"First thing you need to know, Tsukushi," said Rui seriously, "Is that, as a pregnant woman, your stomach will be growing quite a bit over the next few months. You're going to have to be able to state how many months you are pregnant and have the tummy to prove it."

"The stating how many months bit seems easy enough," muttered Tsukushi. She could ignore Nishikaido, Mimasaka, and Domyouji, but she could never ever bring herself to ignore Rui. "But what about the tummy?"

"There's two choices," said Mimasaka. "The first one, most obviously, is just to really get pregnant-"

Tsukushi gave him a most painful kick in the nuts.

"- OW! But it would solve all our problems, and this whole fiasco wouldn't really be a lie after all..."

"What's the second choice?" demanded Tsukushi, utterly refusing to listen to the implications of the first choice.

"You're going to have to wear a fake tummy for a few months," said Rui. "Being a skinny girl, I doubt you'd ever gain the padding to form a somewhat believable bulge." Tsukushi didn't really know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. Should she be pleased that she was able to maintain her nice, slim figure, or be insulted by the fact that she really can't afford to put enough money into food to make her fat?

"Here's a list of foods and medications that you should avoid during pregnancy," said Nishikaido, handing a list over to her. "And a list of foods and medications that you should be taking more of during pregnancy. Remember to avoid indulging in it, or else you're going to look like you want to harm your baby."

Tsukushi took a look at the list and nearly felt like fainting. "Must I remember all this? Ibuprofen, aspirin, warfarin..."

"Well.. um, no, I guess not. Not like other pregnant women remember it."

"Most importantly, you should abstain from smoking and drinking." said Mimasaka, nodding sagely.

"Does it look like I smoke and drink?" snapped Tsukushi sarcastically.

"Makino, you need to know about the changes to your body during pregnancy," said Nishikaido, holding up a book. "There are signs and symptoms of being pregnant. It's just like a disease."

"I'm not freaking pregnant!"

"Anyway," continued Nishikaido, ignoring her outburst, "You're about one month pregnant right now. No tummy, but aware of it. As a pregnant woman, you might suffer some back pains, sore breasts, cramps, breathlessness, and your facial complexion may change a bit."

"Hmm... I can fake the back pains, the sore breasts, the cramps, and maybe the breathlessness... but how the hell am I to change my complexion?" She was starting to find the art of pregnancy rather interesting.

"I don't know... I suppose we'll have to ... scribble on your face..."offered Nishikaido lamely.

"Do anything to my face and I'll do it to yours."

"Don't worry, being the _handsome_ genius that I am, I'll think of something."

"You sure know a lot about this stuff," said Tsukushi snidely, "Have you gotten one of your many girlfriends pregnant before?"

"NO. WAY." said Nishikaido dangerously. She took this as a sign to not press this matter any further.

Domyouji grabbed the book from Nishikaido without asking and gasped, "Whoa! So many side effects of pregnancy! Hey, Makino, you're going to have to act tired as well... and what's flatulence? Is that like feeling flat?"

"No, it means passing gas heaps," said Tsukushi. Then it hit her; she would be the one to have to do all this. "Oh man, are you going to make sure I have to fart heaps? But I really can't do that! It can't be forced, it's a natural thing!"

"We'll be feeding you lots of baked beans," grinned Mimasaka evilly.

"There's more from this site," said Rui, pulling out some sheets of paper, "Lactation - you can easily hide that; same with insomnia, headaches - just complain a lot; nosebleeds - "

"I'll give her something perverted to thing about," grinned Domyouji, knowing what exactly he would do, but he was promptly smashed by Tsukushi in a most spectacular round house kick that would even put Chuck Norris to shame.

"- and incontinence."

"That occurs in the later part of pregnancy," said Nishikaido. "Just complain to the teacher that you need to go on toilet breaks a lot."

_At least that's one symptom I don't have to worry about yet_, thought Tsukushi.

"But the most important matter is to _prove_ that you're pregnant. I think it would be best to see a doctor as well," suggested Rui. "To make this fake pregnancy believable, you're going to need an antenatal visit to a doctor and obtain some kind of proof. Acting is nothing next to something substantial. Tsukasa's mother is an iron woman... she's not going to believe it when only a few teenage kids say it's true. You're going to need a statement from a trusted expert."

"How are we going to find a doctor is going to go along with your idiotic plan?" said Tsukushi. "No doctor in their right mind is going to say I'm pregnant when I, obviously, am not!"

"Have I ever mentioned to you about my older brother, Shouichiro? The one who broke away from our family's thousand year old tea ceremony tradition to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor?" said Nishikaido. "We're going to pay him a visit."

* * *

Next Chapter: Despite Tsukushi's objections, the F4 delve further and further into this irreversible lie! How, oh how, will they cover up this deceit? Will Dr. Nishikaido help their plan, or hinder it? Find out in the next exciting installment of Family Planning! (end shameless plug).

* * *

Meh, I had to do a bit of research on pregnancy for this chapter. Every bit of research you read Tsukushi and the F4 doing was done by me too. I've never been pregnant so I don't know anything. o.o

Shouichiro Nishikaido is actually a canonical character, who was mentioned ever so briefly as breaking away from family tradition to enter medical school. How lovely to have a canonical character at my disposal; I despise having to make up original characters unless it is absolutely necessary; and only as a plot device.


	5. Dr Shouichiro Nishikaido

Author's Note: Exam over! Time to celebrate with a chapter!

In this chapter, I'll refer to Nishikaido as Soujiro and his brother as Shouichiro/Dr. Nishikaido just to be able to distinguish between the two of them, rather than call them both Nishikaido.

This chapter is a fair bit longer than the previous chapters; but I still hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Hana Yori Dango does not belong to me! But the plot of this fanfic does.

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter Five: Dr. Shouichiro Nishikaido

* * *

Dr. Shouichiro Nishikaido was a general practitioner who had established a clinic in an average area of Tokyo. His clinic was on the fifth level of an indistinct high rise complex that served as a commercial and residential building. The waiting area seemed typical of any clinic - full of old, well worn magazines; a fresh, clean smell about the place; a few wooden toys strewn on the floor; two rows of hard chairs facing the receptionist's desk and a TV on mute in the corner.

Soujiro took them there in the evening. By that time, the clinic had stopped business for the day, but the door was still open.

"We're expected. I told my brother that we'd be coming," explained Soujiro, as he pushed the door open. A soft clinking of some sort of chimes indicated their presence. The receptionist ignored their presence as she frantically tried to scribble down the last few notes for the day.

"Hello," Soujiro said. "Is Dr. Nishikaido in?"

"Mmm, just a sec," murmured the receptionist, still not looking up. She pulled over a large appointment book and looked down. Sounding slightly annoyed, she said, "We're closed for today. Would you like to make an appointment? We've filled out for the rest of the month but -"

"No, no. We have a special appointment with Dr. Nishikaido. Is he in at the moment?"

"Well, yes, he is. Just a sec!" She finally took a good look at Soujiro as she got up from behind her desk. For a moment, she stared at him, trying to pinpoint where she had seen his face before. She frowned, squinted and screwed her face in concentration as she tried to locate where exactly she had seen his face before.

Soujiro smiled coyly at her. "I know, I'm handsome."

The receptionist blushed.

"Please wait a sec! Have a seat or something."

She quickly bustled off to an office located in a corridor to her right. They heard a knock, a door opening, and two voices jumbled together in conversation; Tsukushi couldn't hear exactly what they were saying. A moment later, the receptionist returned with a tall man behind her.

Tsukushi assumed that he was Dr. Shouichiro Nishikaido. He was wearing a typical doctor's coat and, despite his wire-rimmed glasses, he bore a striking resemblance to Soujiro; dark haired and handsome. She could see why the receptionist had tried to figure out where she had seen Soujiro's face before; the resemblance was uncanny and she had been seeing it every day in the clinic.

But apart from his looks, this was where all resemblance ended. The air around him was definitely different to Soujiro's; where his brother was a young, charismatic, wild and flirty playboy, as well as a great conversationalist, Shouichiro was a more serious, cold, and unfeeling kind of person. He looked fairly mature, and did not seem like the type that could laughed and joke easily.

Despite being only a few years older than Soujiro, his tired face and haggard appearance made him appear to be much older. Tsukushi supposed that years of clinical experience, being desensitised to death and disease, had sapped him of his youth, vibrancy and warmth.

"Hello, Soujiro," said Shouichiro, giving a strained sort of smile. "How's... mother... and father?"

Tsukushi couldn't help but notice how hesitant he was in asking this.

"They're fine," said Soujiro, smiling - but the smile seemed a bit sad. "How have you been keeping?"

"Busy, as usual," laughed Shouichiro, a strange, hoarse bark of a laugh. "Many patients, everyday. Sending reports here and there, and receiving reports elsewhere... I need more hours in a day. Perhaps thirty eight hours would suffice. Oh-" He had just noticed the rest of the F4 and Tsukushi. "- I nearly didn't recognise you all, it's really been so long since I last saw you guys. You've all grown so tall now, especially you, Tsukasa; or maybe I've just shrunk."

He gave his strange, hoarse laugh again, and continued, "And your faces and hair as well; youth these days change at breakneck speeds, don't they?"

The way he referred to them as youth just made him seem even older. He finally noticed Tsukushi; perhaps he didn't noticed shorter people that easily. But Tsukushi could tell he didn't purposely mean to ignore her; it had been a long and tiring day for him, and it took him quite a bit of effort to stay focused.

"So, she's the one?" said Shouichiro to Soujiro in a meaningful tone.

"Yep. Makino, this is my older brother, Shouichiro. Brother, this is Tsukasa's girlfriend, Makino Tsukushi."

"How do you do? It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, smiling a more relaxed smile. He shook her hand; it was a cold, coarse hand.

"Nice to meet you too," said Tsukushi.

"And she's here for the...?" Shouichiro raised his eyebrows pointedly. Tsukushi felt grateful for this. He seemed to know about their little secret as Soujiro had probably informed him beforehand, but he was the first person not to go around blabbering it like the F4 had done. Medical school must have made him sensitive to patient privacy.

"Yeah..." answered Soujiro, eyes wiggling in the direction of the receptionist, who was busily filling out more patient records behind her desk and filing them in the cabinet behind her desk.

"Maya," said Shouichiro. "Let's call it a day."

"Alright," she said, packing up her bags and giving the desk a quick tidy-over. "See you tomorrow, doc."

"See you later, Maya."

Once the receptionist had left, Shouichiro turned back to Tsukushi.

"You're here for your antenatal tests, aren't you?" he said.

"Um..." said Tsukushi, blushing, wondering what on earth 'antenatal' meant. She really didn't want to look like an idiot in the presence of such a commanding man. "I suppose..."

"Follow me," he ordered. "The rest of you, stay outside. She'll be back soon."

On his orders, the F4 seated themselves on the rigid waiting room chairs and picked up a few gossip magazines to read. As Shouichiro lead Tsukushi down the corridor to his clinic, Tsukushi felt as though she had discovered a new type of 'rich person'. There had been those gossipy, fake girls in Eitoku; then there were those that were beautiful on the outside and the inside like Shizuka and Tsubaki; the third had been the strange and quirky type like Shigeru; and now, she found out there was the - she wasn't exactly sure how to define him - a type who would give up material riches to pursue their dreams? That would be him, Kin-san and Shizuka. Perhaps some rich people had that kind of determination. He was definitely a determined type of person.

"Please come in," said Shouichiro, breaking her train of thoughts. She was already outside his office. He gestured for her to take a seat, and she followed in meekly. He closed the door quietly on them, and, to her surprise said, in a much harsher voice, "What you are doing is very irresponsible."

Tsukushi was rather taken aback by this; but secretly, she agreed with him. This plan was childish, stupid, and would, in the end, fail.

"I... I suppose you're right," she said, slightly taken aback, "It was a stupid thing to do..."

"I'm sorry to have to lecture to someone I've just met, but you have a part in this, as does Tsukasa. I'll be giving him a talking to after this as well. I dislike people who behave irresponsibly."

"I'm sorry..." she squeaked, but felt that his judgment was a bit harsh; after all, she didn't want any part in this plan.

Shouichiro sighed. "Let's begin the antenatal tests then, shall we? I'll be taking your weight first. Please remove your blazer and shoes, and step on the scales."

She did so, and Shouichiro recorded her weight, murmuring, "Hmm. Slightly underweight."

As he recorded her weight down, he asked her, "So, do your parents know that you're pregnant?"

"Thanks to Domyouji... yes." Thinking about how he forcibly told them got her blood boiling.

"Then why do you still need to come to me? Mostly, I see teenagers who are too afraid to tell their parents. But you - since your parents know already, why do you need to come and see me? I think it would be better for you to see your own family doctor. After all, they have your medical history and it would save me having to request it from him."

"Well, the thing is," said Tsukushi, "I don't have a family doctor. We're too poor to see one, so ever since I was little, Mama just gave me medicine to take."

"Ah, I see," he replied, and an uncomfortable silence fell upon them as he proceeded to do other tests on her. Occasionally, Shouichiro would mutter some comments to himself, such as during her blood pressure test ("I see, hypotension..."), but for most of the time their, Tsukushi couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed and embarrassed.

It was then that the trouble started.

"Now, I will have to do an internal examination on you," explained Dr. Shouichiro Nishikaido. "This will involve palpating your uterus, and for this, I will need you to remove your underwear and have you seated on the bed there. It may be slightly uncomfortable as it will involve inserting two fingers into the vagina and then pressing your abdomen."

The message of having to remove her underwear screamed out the worst scenarios to Tsukushi. The rest of his explanation escaped her.

_Oh no!_ thought Tsukushi. _How am I to get out of this one?_

Shouichiro pulled on surgical gloves and advanced towards her. In the fruitful imagination of Tsukushi's mind, he had some evil, menacing grin on his face, and the room had grown strangely dim.

_Damnit, Tsukushi! Think! _

Dr. Shouichiro Nishikaido was crouched down, ready... to...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, and quickly swung her leg forward in an attempt to ward off any advances.

The loud scream was heard all over the building. It was no surprise that Domyouji, Soujiro, Mimasaka and Rui should came rushing into the clinic, fearing the worse for Tsukushi, only to find Dr. Shouichiro Nishikaido looking thoroughly annoyed, gloved hands outstretched and Tsukushi looking fairly sheepish, her foot planted firmly onto Shouichiro's head.

"What are you all doing?" cried Domyouji, aghast.

"He... he...!" stammered Tsukushi, "He..."

"What is it, woman? Say it!"

"Hetriedtogetmetoremovemyunderwearandpossiblymolestme!" said Tsukushi, all in one breath.

The footprint from Tsukushi shoe was still on his forehead as Shouichiro got up, looking rather undignified and very angry. He said, in a slow tone, as though trying to control his seething anger, "I was merely doing my job. I hope she _does_ realise that internal examinations are a normal part of any tests for pregnant women."

Soujiro sighed. "We'll have to explain it. Brother, Tsukushi isn't pregnant."

"Eh?" gasped Mimasaka, surprised. "Didn't you explain it to him before?"

"Um, nope!" grinned Soujiro cheesily, as everyone turned to him. Tsukushi and Shouichiro, in particular, really wanted to strangle him.

"Why the hell did you not explain?" yelled Domyouji, grabbing Soujiro by the collar. "Makino could have been violated!"

Shouichiro rolled his eyes as though to say, "As if I would molest like her," but made he bit his tongue and made no further comment.

"I thought it was our little secret...you know, no further people should know about Tsukushi's fake pregnancy? But the cat's out of the bag now..." said Soujiro.

"You have a lot of explaining to do to me," said Shouichiro, fuming. In all his years as a doctor, never had he been kicked by his patients nor had he been accused of trying to molest and violate them.

* * *

It took a while for Soujiro to explain how Tsukushi came about to pretend to be pregnant, with frequent interjections by Mimasaka and Domyouji. He told his brother how it was all a plan to get Domyouji Kaede to accept Tsukushi as the only girl for Domyouji, how this lead to the plan being formulated - that she would be carrying the Domyouji heir and that there was no way that she would be turned back, and that this was why they were at his clinic - to make the plan thorough and convincing.

"Then you should have informed me earlier." said Shouichiro, nursing his forehead.

"It was supposed to be a secret," insisted Soujiro.

"I've never seen you keep a secret so well before," said Tsukushi sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She was trying very hard not to make eye contact with Shouichiro - it was far too painful and mortifying to recall their earlier misunderstanding.

"Miss Makino," said Shouichiro, breaking down their wall of embarrassment. "I apologise for the incident before - I really did think you were pregnant, and it was quite necessary to do _those_ tests."

"No, no!" said Tsukushi, embarrassed even further. "I should be the one to apologise - I shouldn't've kicked you in the head, you were only doing your job!"

"I want to know this - why did you let me lecture you on behaving irresponsibly? I thought you were really pregnant and avoiding telling your parents!"

"I thought you were lecturing me about our silly little plan, and how deceiving people was irresponsible. Secretly, I agreed with you." said Tsukushi. To her surprise, Shouichiro laughed - a genuine, hearty laugh - and he looked much younger. "But I thought you knew about the plan, so I was surprised when you really were determined to do an internal examination - I thought you were... trying to..."

Shouichiro could tell what she was about to say, and quickly changed tact, "Then why did you say your parents knew about your pregnancy when you weren't even pregnant?"

"Oh! I thought you meant ... well, Domyouji told them I was pregnant, and they believed him. They're currently being lied to. I tried stopping him and convincing them afterwards that I wasn't, but they would hear none of it."

"Anyway," said Rui, cutting in. "What we really came here to do is to obtain a professional's statement that Tsukushi is indeed pregnant, as well as to seek a professional's advice on this. You are the only one we can trust, Shouichiro - that's why we came to you."

"There are three main ways to prove that she's pregnant - a urine test, a blood test, and an ultrasound. The urine test is the one most frequently used, and you can do it at home. But, for all three, you have to be pregnant to prove so."

"We figured," muttered Mimasaka, "We wanted a way around it, so we came to ask for your expert opinion."

"Now, an ultrasound is out of the question," said Shouichiro. "There are no ways to get around that one."

"So, there are ways to get around the urine test and the blood test?"

"Yes," said Shouichiro, "And I am not going to tell you anything about it."

"Why!" said Domyouji, jumping up.

"Because, it's irresponsible behaviour and I don't condone it," he replied simply. "Plus, if I help you, my clinic might be implicated in dishonest activity, and I intend to keep the reputation of my clinic pure, because I run an honest business."

"I agree," said Tsukushi happily. _Finally, I've found someone of the same mindset as me! Someone with common sense!_

"Why are you so desperate for Domyouji's mother to accept Miss Makino to have to resort to lies and deceit?" said Shouichiro. Tsukushi cheered him on in her heart, to have someone with a voice of reason finally shedding light on the futility of this plan.

"You know her, brother," said Soujiro. "There'd be no other way for her to accept Makino."

"I suppose you're right. I never liked that woman much," said Shouichiro, and Tsukushi heartily agreed too. She was beginning to like this man more and more, despite their earlier disaster. "Nor did I like that kind of society much either."

"He doesn't like her because she had insulted him at one of our family gatherings by saying he would never be able to get in on his own accord - only by his wealth and family," whispered Mimasaka. "But then he proved her wrong because he got in on a scholarship."

To everyone's surprise, Shouichiro got up and went back to his office. A few minutes later, he came back with a little bottle with yellow liquid, labeled with medical acronyms and an indiscrete brown paper envelope.

"Here," he said, handing the bottle to Tsukushi.

"What's this?"

"The way to get around a urine test, or for lay people, those home pregnancy kits."

"So, it's... urine?"

"Yes, the urine of a patient of mine who is pregnant."

"Thank you, brother!" said Soujiro, looking so genuinely happy.

"What's with the sudden change of mind?" asked Domyouji, surprised.

"I want to see if this girl can be the one to change how your mother and her kind of society works. They need to realise that there are more important things than money," said Shouichiro, smiling. But then his words became harsh again, "Remember, that's not much you have in the bottle. Use it wisely - only if Domyouji Kaede demands some proof. Also, I would like for you to never tell anyone where you got this from - I don't want any trouble over this."

"I promise," said Domyouji.

"Me too!" said Soujiro.

"Shut up, Nishikaido," said Tsukushi, "You have the biggest mouth. EVER."

"And here," said Shouichiro, handing the brown paper envelope to Domyouji. "Just in case anyone else wants proof. But please, don't ever let your mother see it. I trust you with this, okay?"

"Okay." said Domyouji, holding onto the envelope tightly. He did not want to misplace the trust of the only doctor he could go to.

"Brother!" cried Soujiro in happiness, doing a strange kind of pirouette before giving his brother a bear hug. "Thank you so much!"

"GROUP HUG!" cried Mimasaka, joining Soujiro and wrapping his arms around Shouichiro. "You don't know how grateful we are to you!"

"Just... don't... ever... say... I... was ... involved!" gasped Shouichiro, struggling for air.

After a few more jokes and a stern lecture from him to not do anything so stupid ever again, they finally bade farewell to a visibly younger Dr. Shouichiro Nishikaido. Before parting, he had asked Soujiro to pass on his greetings to his parents. They had taken up enough of his time and their own time.

Once outside, Soujiro sighed, slightly wistfully, "This meeting hadn't gone as well as I thought... but, at least I got to see brother, and we got what we wanted."

"Even though you stuffed it all up by not telling him the truth," said Tsukushi.

"Well, it's been a few years since I last saw Shouichiro - I don't know if he's the same brother I could trust. Ever since he left home to pursue medicine, Mother and Father had disowned him and lost contact with him. They didn't allow me to keep in touch with him either, saying that it would look like they were using me to coerce him to come back home. Man, it took me a while to find his contact details, I had to find it in the phonebook - in a phone booth, so my parents wouldn't know!"

"Were you close to him?" she asked.

"I was very close to him. He was the one who looked after me at home, even when mother was around. He curbed my irresponsible behaviour and such. But after he left, there was no one to tell me off at home."

_So, that's why he's so irresponsible with girls..._ thought Tsukushi.

"Anyway, he had always disliked being part of our tea ceremony tradition," said Nishikaido, "He'd said that while it was grand and beautiful and all that jazz, in the long run, it's an art form that only the rich can indulge in. In the long run, it would do nothing to benefit the poor and starving of the world. That's why he cut ties with our family to pursue medicine, because he believed that with such skills, he would make the world a better place."

"He's like Shizuka, isn't he?" said Tsukushi." Except that he isn't as nice or as gentle."

"I'd say so. Anyway, it's been quite a day, eh?" laughed Soujiro.

"Quite eventful... thanks to you!" Tsukushi was reminded of the trouble that Soujiro caused, and was about to give him a big telling off of her own when Domyouji grabbed her arm and said, "We have to go, my chauffeur's here." He pushed her into the car before getting in himself and slamming the door shut.

"Well, see you later!" smiled Nishikaido coyly, tapping her window, having just evaded her lecture. Mimasaka and Rui waved from the footpath as the car sped back to the Domyouji mansion.

"Argh. So tired..." muttered Tsukushi, stepping into the huge foyer of his home after their uneventful ride home. She felt around the inside of her school bag, making sure that the precious urine sample was still there. "I'm just glad your mother's not here. I remember how scary it was when I found out she came home. Imagine if she saw the urine sample..."

"Welcome home, young master, Miss Makino," said the butler, greeting them on their return. "Miss Tsubaki has just returned from Los Angeles today, and is waiting with anticipation of your return. She wishes to inform-"

"Tsukasa! There you are!" A woman's voice echoed through the foyer. Tsubaki took elegant strides forward. "Oh! Tsukushi! You're here as well! I missed you so much!"

With that, Tsubaki leapt forward like a ballet dancer (despite wearing very high stilettos) and grabbed Tsukushi, giving her a big, tight hug.

"You've grown thin!" she implored sadly. She turned to the butler and ordered, "Please get her a meal ready!"

"As you wish, Miss Tsubaki," replied the butler, and gave a bow before retreating.

"How have you been keeping? You look so tired!" said Tsubaki, trying to find more reasons to feed Tsukushi.

"No, no! I'm fine!" said Tsukushi, shaking her head vigorously.

"Actually," grinned Domyouji evilly, "She is-"

"No! I'm not!" yelled Tsukushi, stepping on Domyouji's toes.

Tsubaki turned to Domyouji, and was about to give him a punch for speaking out of turn when she noticed the not-so-indiscrete-anymore brown envelope that he was clutching. To Tsukushi's horror, she noticed that Dr. Nishikaido had scrawled on it, in huge black and red letters, 'Confidential' and 'Dr. Shouichiro Nishikaido.'

So much for him not wanting to be implicated in their silly plan. Tsukushi couldn't think of a way to make it more obvious than to scribble your own name in large black markers onto something waved around in public.

"Shouichiro Nishikaido?" murmured Tsubaki. "Now that's a name I haven't heard of in many years..."

She quickly made a grab for the envelope, but Domyouji leapt out of the way, clutching the envelope in his hands. This started resembling a scene from any martial arts film - a showdown between two masters; Tsubaki of the fatal punches and Tsukasa of the agile dodging. Sibling rivalry indeed.

"You can't look at it!"

"Says who?" yelled Tsubaki, before giving him a very impressive high kick and grabbing the envelope from him. She turned back to Tsukushi and continued their pleasant conversation as if nothing had happened, all the while untying the string.

"Shouichiro Nishikaido was in the same classes as me back when I was in Eitoku," she said, in a tone that sounded as though she was remarking about the weather. "I didn't know him that well because he always kept to himself. He was so quiet, always spending his time alone in the library, studying. That's how he became dux of our year, and ended up in the most prestigious medical college on a scholarship. Anyway, despite being so nerdy, he was quite popular because he was handsome - but he never showed much interest in girls. He didn't have a girlfriend in high school, as far as I know. Damnit, how come this string takes so long to undo... ah, there we go."

Before Tsukushi could protest, Tsubaki had unraveled the string tying the envelope and had pulled out its contents. It felt like a million years as Tsukushi watched with horror while Tsubaki skimmed over its contents.

"Oh... my..." Tsubaki murmured.

* * *

Next Chapter: How will Tsubaki react to this news? Will she find out the truth? Stay tuned for the next episode, where Tsubaki brings out the wine that she's been saving! Dun dun dun...

I hope I've made Shouichiro Nishikaido realistic. I don't want him becoming a cardboard character. And yesh, I realised I've called him Dr. Shouichiro Nishikaido rather than Dr. Nishikaido Shouichiro ... but it makes more sense like this in English.

* * *

My darling readers, I'd like to have your opinion about a minor matter since this is the best time to ask it; although this fic is third person, it's biased towards Tsukushi's point of view. Therefore, I call the characters how Tsukushi would call them ie. Domyouji rather than Tsukasa, Nishikaido rather than Soujiro etc..

However, it seems that other authors call them Tsukasa, Akira, Soujiro etc.. - should I name them as such for the sake of continuity?

Well, uh, the changes won't take place until Chapter Nine since I've written up to there calling them by their surnames. Oh well.


	6. Tsubaki and Tama are party animals

Author's Note: Wee. It takes me so long to release chapters because, despite finishing it, I leave it around to quality check it before I release it; I want it to be as perfect as possible... xD

Will be having exams soon; wish me luck!

Disclaimer: Hana Yori Dango does not belong to me! But the plot of this fanfic does.

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter Six: Tsubaki and Tama are party animals

* * *

Tsubaki's eyes went from left to right as she read over the report. At some parts, she frowned, and at other parts, her eyes had widened and her face had contorted into an expression as though she was about to scream. 

Tsukushi couldn't help but cringe as Domyouji lay there helplessly as the seconds - no, years - ticked slowly before them. After what seemed to be a very long time, Tsubaki lowered the document from in front of her face, and, in a very swift motion, had grabbed Tsukushi and pulled her into a tight hug, whereby she dropped Dr. Nishikaido's documents onto the floor without noticing and a servant hastily picked it up and gently returned it into the envelope.

Tsubaki was very, very strong for a woman with such a lithe figure. Tsukushi felt as though she would choke from her hug - all the air was being squeezed out of her lungs.

_This must run in the Domyouji family, _thought Tsukushi. _Strength that is disproportionate to their size. How on earth did they ever get the heavyweight champion strength?_

"Oh, Tsukushi! This is WONDERFUL!" squealed Tsubaki, looking as though she would really cry from happiness. Her eyes were glistening strangely. She pulled her even closer to her as Tsukushi felt herself being lifted off the floor.

"Gah... but..." Tsukushi gasped, trying to get enough air back into her system so she could have enough breath to tell Tsubaki that it wasn't true.

But Tsubaki had that strange habit of not listening to people once preoccupied with an idea. "Oh! I'm going to be an aunt! This is so wonderful! An aunt! I'm going to be an auntie!"

She really wanted to tell Tsubaki she was nowhere near becoming an auntie, but she didn't have the heart to break Tsubaki's happiness. "Sister..."

"Oh, Tsukushi!" cried Tsubaki, realising that she was still squeezing Tsukushi. She released her from her iron grip, and settled for holding her at arm's length instead. "Is it going to be a boy or a girl? Am I going to have a nephew or a niece? Oh, silly me! You wouldn't know yet, would you? And to think that Tsukasa would have a child before me! What joy it is!"

Tsukushi still didn't have a say in this yet - Tsubaki wasn't listening. She had gone off on her own tangent now, and it was near impossible to break her train of thoughts. The more Tsubaki gushed, the less Tsukushi felt like telling her the truth. She looked so happy about this - this was the first time that Tsukushi had any qualms about disproving the F4's plan. Tsukushi did not want to hurt her; Tsubaki had been so good to her, treating her like the sister she never had.

But she had to break the news to her now. She would be less hurt now than if Tsukushi told her nine months later - her heart would surely crack open, and the disappointment that Tsubaki would have in Tsukushi would be much greater then than it would be now. Tsukushi would rather not be dishonest with Tsubaki than disappoint her.

"Sister, I-" began Tsukushi seriously, but again, she was ignored once again because Tsubaki still wasn't listening. It seemed that the more Tsukushi saw how blissful Tsubaki was, the less determined Tsukushi was to tell her the truth. By now, Tsukushi had given up her quest to enlighten Tsubaki and was determined to at least put some effort into this plan to at least make her happy, even if it was only for nine months.

"C'mon, Tsukushi! We have to celebrate this! The night's still young, we'll party like it's 1999 even if it's chronologically impossible!" said Tsubaki. She turned to the same servant that had picked up her envelope and instructed, "Take the envelope to Tsukushi's room, and tell Tama to get that bottle I've been saving to sunroom! Let's go, Tsukushi!"

Tsubaki grabbed Tsukushi's hand in a strong grip and half pulled, half power-marched her to the sunroom. Tama arrived there a few minutes later, carrying a bottle of deep red champagne in her thin arms. When Tsubaki saw Tama, she immediately relayed the most happy news to her.

"Guess what, Tama? Sit down first - yeah, put the champagne down - are you ready?"

"What is it, young miss?"

"I'm going to be an aunt!" squealed Tsubaki excitedly.

It only took Tama a second to work everything out. She stared blankly at Tsukushi for a fraction of a second before her face twisted into a sly expression.

"Oho."

"Don't laugh like that," said Tsukushi, a little scared, "It's creepy..."

"Don't call me creepy..." whispered Tama dangerously, her walking stick making sharp jabs at Tsukushi's face.

"I'm sorry!" Tsukushi apologised before Tama could hit her more.

"So, young master finally plucked up the courage to make sweet love to you?" grinned Tama evilly. "I knew he could pull it off in the end, even if his... weiner... was always so small. Never like a frankfurt. But all good things come in small packages. Was young master an animal in bed, or what?"

Tsukushi couldn't help but blush. That was far too much detail for her. She sat there, silent and red faced. She couldn't help but notice how Tama sounded so very much like Nishikaido and Mimasaka. Did Tama's old mind work like a teenage playboy's?

"It was _my_ plan," said Tama proudly, claiming copyright to the future heir. "I told Tsukushi to make a baby with young master so the mistress would accept her, but she refused. So I told young master about this plan instead - I told him to be a man and to be the one to initiate action. He yelled at me at first, but you could tell that he really thought it was a good idea. Seems like he's grown up from a boy to a man now!"

"Speaking of which, where's the proud father?" said Tsubaki. "That stupid boy - where is he? The party's about to start!"

The fact that it was she who knocked him out seemed to have escaped her.

"I'll go get him, young miss," said Tama. She got up and returned with Domyouji, who seemed to have recovered like a dog from Tsubaki's blows. Tama must have been teasing Domyouji, for when he arrived at the sunroom, his face was all red and he was shouting in a loud voice whilst Tama had the most evil, most cunning grin on her face.

"I do have good technique! Who said I was a novice just because it was my first time?"

Tsukushi felt like digging a hole in the vast Domyouji estate lawns and burying herself in it.

"Makino! Did you tell Tama I was a novice?" Domyouji demanded angrily.

"I didn't say anything, you great big octopus head!" yelled Tsukushi. _Making up intimidate details of sexual encounters is not my expertise, you fool!_

But then it clicked on Domyouji that Tsukushi indeed had not said anything - about the truth (or lies?) behind their plans- and that Tama and Tsubaki did not have the faintest idea that this whole thing could be a farce. But, for now, he bit his tongue and said nothing. He would ask her later.

"Yes, the mother and father are present! Let's get this party started!" said Tsubaki, pouring champagne into four elegant glasses. "To the health of the baby and its mother! Cheers!"

Tsubaki and Tama downed one glass after another, getting more and more drunk even though they had a fairly high tolerance for alcohol. They were going all out due to this piece of happy news. At first, Tsukushi resisted, but as Tsubaki egged her on, she gave in and succumbed to peer pressure. Domyouji sat there, solemn and dignified, sipping it slowly so that it was never quite empty enough to be refilled by a hyped up Tsubaki.

By now, they had drank to the health of the baby, the cost of rent, the price of nappies, to lactose intolerance, the economy, the cost of living, and to world peace. Tsubaki was totally disorientated, totally high in and on spirits, her face red from happiness and from champagne. She now turned to an ornamental tree sitting in a large pot. It had strange, curly leaves that somewhat resembled the hair on Domyouji's head.

"Now- hic- you better treat Tsukushi goodly, mmkay? Make sure she goes to yoga classes or else she'll get lots of cramps! And if you force her to do anything that she doesn't want to, I'll slap you so hard that there'll be a dent in your face," said Tsubaki, pointing her finger in an authoritative gesture at the ornamental tree.

"Young miss," said Tama, who was nearly as disorientated as Tsubaki, "That's not young master, he's over there!" With that, she pulled an unresisting Tsubaki to Tsukushi.

"What happened to your face, Tsukasa?" said Tsubaki, pulling Tsukushi's face. "How come you look so much like Tsukushi?"

"I not Domyouji!" hiccoughed Tsukushi, trying to grip on reality. "Why you pinch my face, Mama? You usually hit me with household appliances..."

Despite Tsubaki's plan to party all night, the three ladies (especially the two older ones), by now, were so wasted that it was going to be impossible. Domyouji ordered some servants up to take Tsubaki and Tama back to their rooms. Tsukushi, although starting to succumb to unconsciousness, was still alert enough to make her way back to her own room. She was about to do so when Domyouji stopped her and asked her the question that he had held back before.

"You're going to go along with it now, aren't you?"

"Along with what?"

"How come you did not tell my sister and Tama the truth? You had plenty of time to tell them while you were alone with them."

"Don't wanna disappoint them; the grandma and sister that I never had... I want them to be happy..."

"Do you plan to tell them once they're sober?"

"What's a sober? Soba? Is it edible?"

"You are going to go along with this now, right?"

"My, my, you've grown so tall, Susumu!"

Thinking that he was her brother, Tsukushi gave a pat on Domyouji's head, finally succumbing to unconsciousness and instantly collapsed. It was a lucky thing that Domyouji was there, and he caught her before she could do any serious damage to her head. Gently, he picked her up in his arms and carried her back to his room. Occasionally, she moaned out strange words like, "Internal examination..." and "You idiot... Domyouji..."

But he wasn't listening. Domyouji was pleased. He could tell that it was a yes, despite her saying otherwise.

* * *

Tsukushi woke up the next morning a bit tired, but pretty much recovered from the effects of alcohol. 

"Argh. What happened last-"

And it all come flooding back - Tsubaki became drunk, Tama became drunk, and she became drunk. Domyouji wasn't drunk. The last recollection she had was in the sunroom. Domyouji was saying something before she blanked out. So how did she end up here?

_Domyouji carried me!_

She felt her clothes, and looked down for visual confirmation.

_Pajamas! That means... that means... Domyouji changed me from my school uniform into pajamas?_

She felt her face going furiously red when there was a knock at her door and she went to answer it. It was the one she feared seeing most this very morning - Domyouji.

"IT'S YOU!" yelled Tsukushi, pointing.

"It's rude to point," said Domyouji. "Not even a morning greeting for the person who had to lift something so heavy from one end of the house to another?"

"YOU! Did you.. did you..." Tsukushi trailed off. She couldn't bear to finish the sentence.

"Strip you?" teased Domyouji. "Yes, I did. Did you think that your pajamas magically pulled itself onto you?"

Tsukushi's jaw dropped and quickly flung her arms over her chest in a reflex protective motion, as though Domyouji was going to strip her again.

"I'm just kidding," said Domyouji, a little exasperated and a little hurt. "I'm not a pervert. But, I'll tell you this - I debated it over and over about whether I should change you into pajamas or get a female servant to do it. In the end, I got a servant to do it, and I regret my choice."

"Anyway!" interjected Tsukushi before he could lament over his decision anymore. Time for a subject change. "Where's Tsubaki and Tama-sempai?"

"They're still asleep. Well, at least Tama is. Sister woke up and she had a hangover, so she's getting a bit more rest now. Anyhow, I came to tell you to get changed."

"WHAT!" screamed Tsukushi. _He's here to watch me change? _

"You don't have to change in front of me... if you don't want to." Domyouji had read her mind. "Actually, you _don't_ have to change if you _don't_ want to. You look very cute in _my _pajamas."

Tsukushi blushed. No wonder they were so big.

At that point, Domyouji simply couldn't resist and gave her a hug; he wrapped his arms around her in a protective gesture.

"Anyway, just get changed. We can't have you tripping over in my pajamas on the street," he whispered into her hair. "We're going shopping. I'll wait for you in the foyer."

"I don't need you to buy me Gucci or Prada or whatever," Tsukushi murmured.

"Who said I was buying that for you?" he snickered softly. "We're buying more important, nocturnal things."

"You mean maternal, as in baby's clothes? A cot?" said Tsukushi, "That's a waste of money - especially if we don't even have a baby for those things."

"We're going to buy you a tummy."

"A TUMMY?" yelped Tsukushi, lurching back.

"Yes," sighed Domyouji. "Just hurry up, the others are waiting. No - actually, I don't want you to hurry. I want you to stay in my arms forever."

* * *

Next Chapter: Shopping with the F4 - for a tummy. Boys that are used to buying designer wear are going to buy a tummy for a dodgy cause? This is going to be a disaster. 

I suck at romance :(


	7. The F4 go shopping

Author's Note: So the last chapter was rather lackluster. I know; but it was necessary for the plot - this chapter will definitely be better (I promise :O) and you'll see the consequences of the last chapter in the chapter after this one :). There IS a reason why I wrote it, after all :).

Disclaimer: Hana Yori Dango does not belong to me! But the plot of this fanfic does.

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter Seven: The F4 go shopping.

* * *

"We're here."

Domyouji and Tsukushi had arrived at a narrow shopping strip in an average district. There seemed to be nothing special about it - no expensive brands, no huge chain stores, just average small businesses. Tsukushi found it rather odd to see Domyouji in a place that he would usually deem to be for commoners.

They walked around for a bit around the place. Domyouji seemed to be looking for something, for he was frowning and squinting at each shop's sign. Finally, he found the shop he was looking for - it was a costume shop with a dusty, plain shopfront, and Rui, Nishikaido and Mimasaka were standing outside, waiting for them. The sign above them read, 'Tomoyo Daidouji's Costume Shop - Premade and Made to Order. Custom enquiries welcome.'

"Well," said Mimasaka, "This is the address that Shigeru gave me. I didn't know she bought her costumes in such a dowdy place."

"We're buying a tummy in a costume shop?" said Tsukushi.

"Tell me where else you could find a place to buy a fake tummy, genius," said Nishikaido.

"You didn't tell Shigeru that Tsukushi was pretending to be pregnant, did you?" said Rui.

"Nope," said Mimasaka proudly. "Remember how we swore ourselves to secrecy? I told her that I wanted to get a pirate costume for a costume party my girlfriend was having, and asked her where she got her costumes from. She was more than happy to tell me. She told me that this was the best one."

"Looks rather outdated," said Nishikaido disdainfully.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," warned Tsukushi, defending all that is good and common.

They entered the narrow door, one after another. A clink of chimes indicated their presence, and the shopkeeper - a plain, middle aged man - looked up from behind the counter where he seemed to be fixing an elaborate looking waistcoat.

"Hello," said Mimasaka. "We're looking for costumes."

"What type?" asked the shopkeeper.

Tsukushi was sure that they would hit a snag. Surely, they weren't going to say that they wanted to buy a fake pregnant woman's stomach to trick the woman with the economy in her hands, Domyouji Kaede, into thinking that some teenage girl was pregnant.

"We want to buy costumes for a nativity scene."

"The magi or the shepherds or the angels?"

"Um," said Mimasaka. He really hadn't thought this through properly.

"The magi," said Nishikaido quickly. "We'd also like a costume of _Mary_ and Joseph too."

"Is this for you people, or are you ordering for others?"

"It's for us," said Rui. "Would you have anything in stock at the moment?"

"Of course not. We're approximately eight months from Christmas - I doubt there would be any orders for nativity costumes."

"Well, you see," said Domyouji smugly, "It's for a play that our school is having at the end of the year, and we wanted to prepare early."

"Eight months early? Very hard working kids you are. I'm sorry to say, but we do not have any of those costumes at the moment. But I could always make custom costumes for you."

"That's okay," said Mimasaka quickly. "Would you have any other accessories in stock? Like, you know..."

"... A pregnant tummy for our Mary?" finished Nishikaido hopefully, and a little tactlessly. The shopkeeper, however, noticed nothing.

"That I would, since it's not a particularly Christmas exclusive costume. Is it for the girl?"

"Yes."

"Just a second." The man walked off to a storeroom behind him, and came back with a large, ugly, blue plastic mould.

"This is the only one we have for her size." said the man.

"Do you have anything... uh... more realistic?" said Domyouji.

"In ... you know, skin colours?" said Nishikaido.

"And ... maybe, adjustable in size?" added Mimasaka hopefully.

_They really need not be so obvious even if they wanted the tummy as foolproof as possible_, thought Tsukushi.

"Why would you need an adjustable tummy for a nativity scene? I don't think that there would be huge size changes by the time you reach the end of a pregnancy," said the shopkeeper, now eyeing them suspiciously. They were making rather odd requests for a mere accessory in a play. "It's not really for a nativity scene, is it? You asked for it at the wrong time of the year, and then you give me very specific criteria for a supposedly simple accessory. Now, what is it really for?"

"It's for..." muttered Tsukushi. She really wanted to say that it was fooling someone's mother, but that would just blow all their efforts.

"It's for a pornographic video," said Rui solemnly as everyone's jaw dropped to anatomically impossible lengths.

The way that he said it - in such a sombre tone - and the fact that he managed to keep a poker face while saying it left the rest of them speechless. Even the shopkeeper's jaw had dropped due to Rui's brutal 'honesty'.

"I am sorry that we had to lie to you before - you see, I was rather afraid that you might not sell it to me if you knew that it was to be for an explicit X-rated video. I am the director, and here is my producer, and my costume designer." He pointed at Mimasaka and Nishikaido respectively. Noticing that Domyouji was looking rather annoyed because he was not given any title, he added, "This is my male star. Now you know the reason why we need it as realistic as possible. We want it to match the skin colour of this lady here, who will be the female star of the video," continued Rui in a serious, businesslike tone, gesturing at Tsukushi. "It would be wonderful to have it adjustable, because we will be making a set of three videos, one for each trimester. For that, we will need to be able to change the size of her tummy."

Tsukushi wanted to protest, but she was left absolutely speechless. She couldn't believe that he said that; this was the type of crazy idea that only the other three could come up with. She could tell her face was very red - she was absolutely mortified. Rui had just turned her into a porn star. Domyouji was having perverted thoughts from that idea; his face was all red and he was struggling with a nosebleed.

"You're going to need a custom made one," muttered the shopkeeper, deeply embarrassed at being dragged into such a conversation. "Come with me."

He lead them to the back of the store, where he matched Tsukushi's skin colour with a palette, then took some measurements - all the while muttering "Kids these days," and "Strange fetishes" under his breath. It was then recorded down in a little order form. A price was negotiated, a payment made, and instructions to come and pick up their order in seven days (Nishikaido had urged that the shopkeeper give it priority because it was halting the production of their film).

* * *

True to the shopkeeper's words, the tummy was indeed ready in seven days time. Domyouji and Tsukushi returned, where she had a fitting. It was mainly an inflatable tummy that was strapped around her at the back and over the shoulders. It was covered with a material that had the texture of skin and had colour that blended perfectly with her stomach. The size and shape was adjustable via the 'belly button' of the tummy, and it was fairly lightweight for something so bulky due to the fact that it was filled with air.

"You look like a goddess," muttered Domyouji, blushing, as he stared at Tsukushi, who had donned the tummy and was inspecting it in the mirror.

"It looks very realistic," said Tsukushi, surprised by the shopkeeper's handiwork.

"It is for a film, so I did the best I can," the shopkeeper said, half admiring and half exasperated with his creation.

"Thank you very much," said Domyouji, "Here is an extra payment for you for such a wonderful job and meeting the deadline."

He pulled out his chequebook and scrawled something in it before handing a cheque to him. The shopkeeper's eyes widened at the sizeable amount of the tip that he had just received.

They bade farewell to the shopkeeper, and, hauling the box in which was the tummy under his arms (Tsukushi was not going to wear it out onto the street), Domyouji turned to Tsukushi and said, looking rather happy, "That's one big leap in the plan, one giant step for the future!"

"You mean, one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind?"

"Yeah, same thing," snorted Domyouji. "Let's go eat! This is a cause for celebration."

"I don't have enough money," said Tsukushi. "Payday isn't until next Thursday."

"My treat. You should stop worrying about paying," said Domyouji, a little annoyed at her resistance in letting him pay.

"Just don't choose a place that's too expensive," said Tsukushi. "Or I'm not going there."

"Alright, alright, whatever, but I'm picking, okay? I don't want to eat cheap commoner's food."

"Aren't you going to put the parcel down?"

"My chauffer won't be back until three hours time," said Domyouji. He stopped dramatically all of a sudden, and threw a hand out to stop Tsukushi as well.

"Wait a sec!"

"What?" said Tsukushi, surprised.

"How am I going to take this thing back to my place? Crap!" said Domyouji, frowning. "There's nowhere I can hide this thing; the servants clean out every cook and nanny-"

"You mean, nook and cranny?" said Tsukushi.

"-and if they find this, they will definitely report it as suspicious to Tama! Then Tama will know and then sister will find out and then mother will know!" continued Domyouji, ignoring Tsukushi. He looked more and more worried. "Worse, they're going to think this is a bomb and dispose of it!"

"You know, we could always hide it in someone else's place," said Tsukushi.

"That's right! We can!" said Domyouji, looking thoroughly relieved. "Um, where at?"

"One of the other's place? I mean, you can't exactly hide it in my place - too small, plus, you don't want my parents knowing."

"Good idea." He whipped out his phone and dialed Rui first, and explained the situation to him.

"I'd love to, Tsukasa," replied Rui. "But my place is rather threadbare, don't you think? I don't exactly have anywhere to hide this, and I believe I will be rather freaked out about the realism of that thing. I don't want to leave it in the middle of my room where I can see it.."

So that was a no. Domyouji tried Nishikaido.

"I've got a storeroom at my place, but the servants clean it out. I don't want them reporting to my mother that I have acquired some sort of strange fetish for pregnant women."

It was his last chance. Domyouji rang Mimasaka and explained how desperate the situation was to him.

"Well, I guess you could store it at my place. My mother's gone on holiday to Europe with my sisters for a few months, so the place is all mine now. You could leave it in her cottage - the servants don't touch that place unless they are ordered to. That's my mother's own private, personal space where she likes to do everything and no one goes there because she doesn't like people messing it up."

"Really? So I can leave it at your place?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Akira, if you were here right now, I'd kiss you."

"Please don't. Anyway, I'm with my girlfriend right now, so can I call you back later? Just drop the parcel here tonight. Bye!"

"Yes!" said Domyouji, pocketing his phone and punching the air triumphantly. "All settled! Time to eat!"

They walked down the shopping strip, searching for a restaurant fine enough for Domyouji's standards. It was when they were walking past a newspaper stand in their quest for food that they noticed the headline of a major broadsheet emblazoned over it in giant, black letters:

DOMYOUJI HEIR ANNOUNCES BIRTH OF CHILD

Stocks rise to record highs

* * *

Next Chapter: The media has gotten a hold of their secret! Who leaked the news? Now the whole world will find out what Tsukushi didn't want them to hear! Stay tuned!


	8. The procreation sensation

Author's Note: You may or may not have noticed that I've plugged in names of characters from other anime for minor things such as cameo appearances. Cookies to those who can name any of them, and a yummy pie for those who can name all of them! Teehee. This can become a game that runs through this story. :D

Thank you to _xinusess_ (I AM SO SORRY FOR SPELLING YOUR NAME WRONG!) for telling me that the title of the article is a misleading. It was a very bad slip in logic; I didn't actually notice this :(. So my horribly lame excuse for this is that the media tends to exaggerate with tantalising headlines to draw in readers. I really don't think I can change it now, seeing as people have already read it with the misleading heading.

But I can explain the Kaede thing! Kaede could check his accounts, but she hasn't yet, because she has had no idea about this before the article came out. But I doubt that it would have been that expensive for her to question it; it's probably on par with Domyouji's usual spending habits...After all, he bought it from a commoner's shop ;P

Additional thanks to az09 for spotting my spelling mistakes! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Disclaimer: Hana Yori Dango does not belong to me! But the plot of this fanfic does.

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter 8: The Procreation Sensation

* * *

DOMYOUJI HEIR ANNOUNCES BIRTH OF CHILD

Stocks rise to record highs

_The Domyouji family is expected to have a new addition to their family, announced a Domyouji Enterprises spokeswoman this morning. Domyouji Tsukasa, heir to the Domyouji Enterprises, is expected to have a child with his childhood sweetheart, Makino Tsukushi. Although both are currently still students of __Eitoku_ _Academy__, it has been rumoured that Miss Makino may give up study in order to care for the child full time. _

_What long term impact the child may have on the economy is still unknown. Following the announcement, Domyouji Enterprises stocks soared to a record high..._

The rest of the article continued to analyse the impact that the birth announcement may have on the economy and stock market. Tsukushi didn't have the heart to keep reading this - there were far too many mistakes and it was only based on hearsay. For one thing, she was sure that she wasn't Domyouji's childhood sweetheart, and secondly, she had not even considered giving up study.

"What kind of crap is this!" yelled Domyouji. He scanned the other headlines, and to his horror, they were all about the same thing - the announcement of the 'birth' of his child.

DOMYOUJI STOCKS AT ALL TIME HIGH

BABY DOMYOUJI BOOMS ECONOMY

DOMYOUJI OVER THE MOON ABOUT BABY

"Damnit! Who announced it? If it's one of them, I swear I'm going to kill them!" yelled Domyouji, looking absolutely furious. His hunger now forgotten, he bought every one of the newspapers and magazines that had anything remotely about them. Now immobilised by the sheer volume of newspapers that they had just bought and the weight of the tummy that they had just acquired, they sat on the sidewalk, reading it. Domyouji didn't even complain when he had to make do with a commoner's hamburger that Tsukushi bought from a street vendor for him.

By the time that the chauffer had picked them up, they were nearly three quarters of the way through the reading material. Despite it being three hours since he first saw these articles, time did nothing to help subdue his anger. When he had arrived at Mimasaka's grand mansion, he was so livid that he stormed right past and ignored the butler who greeted him at the door. Fake tummy in one arm, Tsukushi and the newspapers in his other arm, he made a flashy and spectacular entrance to Mimasaka's living room, where the F3 had assembled due to Domyouji's summons.

"What's wrong, Tsukasa?" said Rui, totally unfazed by Domyouji's flashy and spectacular entrance. He was used to it; Domyouji had done it ever since he was a child when he demanded everyone's attention, and he knew that he was a master of the art of making a grand appearance.

"You know what's wrong!" yelled Domyouji. He threw the fake tummy (cushioned safely in a box) onto the floor, tossed Tsukushi onto the sofa, and waited for someone to ask him what was wrong.

"Hurry it up, man," said Nishikaido, yawning. "I had to cancel a date with one of my girlfriends because of your 'urgent crisis.' If you get it over and done with, I could still catch up with her."

"This is what's wrong!" Domyouji had left the best for last. He dropped the stack of newspapers that were still in his arms most dramatically onto Mimasaka's coffee table so that it gave a loud thud when it did so. Even for such a durable rosewood coffee table, it gave a slight groan and bent a bit under its weight.

"Hmm? What's this?" Mimasaka picked up an article. "'Domyouji Tsukasa, the young heir to Domyouji enterprises, is soon to become a father, announced a Domyouji family spokesperson this morning. Friends close to the family have reported the young heir to be over the moon about becoming a father. A source close to the family, who did not wish to be named-'"

"Okay, own up." snapped Domyouji. "Which of you announced it?"

"I didn't do it," chorused Rui, Mimasaka and Nishikaido simultaneously.

"One of you did," whispered Domyouji dangerously, cracking his knuckles in a fashion that obviously meant he will beat them all up if no one was willing to take the blame.

"Tsukasa, it says 'announced by a Domyouji family spokesperson'," said Rui reasonably. "Do we look like Domyouji family spokespersons?"

"Use your brain, genius," said Nishikaido. "Would we want your mother to find out so quickly and start her investigations, when we haven't polished off our plan yet?"

"Who else knows about Makino's supposed pregnancy and has the power to get a Domyouji family spokesperson to release a media statement?" said Mimasaka. "Apart from you, I don't think anyone else fits the criteria..."

"Yes, there is! Damnit, I know who did it!"

"Who?" said Tsukushi. "It's not-"

"It is," said Domyouji, "Damnit, it's sister! She did it! The only one from the Domyouji family who knows all this, apart from me, is sister!"

"Wow, good job, Einstein," said Nishikaido sarcastically. He was fairly hurt that his dear friend Tsukasa would think that he would stoop this low. "Glad to see your powers of deduction and logic are still working, after seventeen years in hibernation."

"Look at it - it all fits," said Mimasaka reasonably. "For one thing, she doesn't know that we don't want your mother finding this out too quickly, and she thinks she's doing you a favour by releasing a media statement."

"I'm going home," announced Domyouji suddenly.

"What? Already? Man, I sure wasted my time for your stupid 'crisis'," said Nishikaido. "Why are you going so soon?"

"I have something to discuss with my _dear_ sister." He pointed at the box that he had thrown onto the floor in his tantrum. "That box over there contains the fake tummy. Can you hide it somewhere, Akira?"

"Mammy's cottage," said Mimasaka happily. "Woops, I mean, mother's cottage."

Tsukushi was about to burst out laughing at Mimasaka's sudden lapse in suaveness when Domyouji grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the limousine. They had barely stayed at Mimasaka's estate - only a mere five minutes - before they left again.

Tsukushi couldn't help but blush when he held her hand. It was so warm and assuring; yet, even as his girlfriend, she was acutely aware of the fact that she had barely held his hand - something that every normal couple did. Perhaps they weren't quite a normal couple after all; it wasn't as if everyone had a powerful woman pursuing and interfering in their affairs.

In their short ride home in the car, Domyouji had kept muttering curses under his breath. He was pretty livid - he had scared the chauffer into driving over the speed limit, and when he arrived home, he had charged straight into the foyer, screaming, "WHERE IS SHE!"

"Where's who?"

Tama had appeared out of nowhere - possibly out of the shadows of one of the many corridors leading out of the foyer. In any case, it made Domyouji and Tsukushi jump.

"That stupid woman!" Tama wasn't sure if he was answering her question, or if he was calling her a stupid woman for scaring him.

"He means Tsubaki-san," interpreted Tsukushi.

"Young master," sniggered Tama, slowly hobbling around. "If you're looking for the young miss, she's in the lounge room in the west wing."

"Let's go," muttered Domyouji, grabbing Tsukushi's hand again and leading her through a maze of corridors and rooms in fast strides. They finally arrived at the room which Tsukushi assumed was the living room in the west wing, and Domyouji burst through the doors in a glorious display of anger.

Tsubaki put down her tea cup in a calm fashion and looked up at them quizzically.

"YOU STUPID WOMAN!" he began, "Why the hell did you-"

"Watch who're you're calling stupid!" yelled Tsubaki, flaring up and punching him. How she got up from her seat and within punching distance of Domyouji was beyond Tsukushi.

"I'm sorry, sister!" said Tsukushi, as if it were her fault that they were arguing. She felt that she hadn't restrained him.

"Don't be, Tsukushi - this kid needs some sense belted into him."

"Sister-" gasped Domyouji from underneath her foot. Tsubaki was now stepping on his head. "Why did you - " He was going to ask her why she had publicised the birth announcement in general, but decided to chastise her for other reasons. "- announce the birth announcement to rival tabloids as well!"

"That's none of your business," she snapped. "I believe that it's better for everyone to share in this wonderful news rather than to keep it within Domyouji Media Holdings."

"Domyouji Media Holdings?" said Tsukushi, as if she didn't expect Domyouji Enterprises to have expanded into media.

"Oh yes. I'm the head of Domyouji Media. We own magazines like Margaret; but our media division is only a small proportion of Domyouji Enterprise," said Tsubaki nonchalantly, waving her hand as if it were no big deal.

_Small proportion? _thought Tsukushi. _Don't they control seventy percent of the media in the country?_

Tsukushi was totally blown by the fact that Tsubaki would even call it small.

"For your information, Tsukasa," continued Tsubaki, ignoring Domyouji's cries of pain, "I've arranged for you two to get an interview in our Parenting Today magazine. So before you start calling me a traitor, think about how I'm giving this most exclusive interview to one of our own magazines. Getting the rival tabloids hyped up is one thing; using them to promote this exclusive interview is another. Is that alright with you, Tsukushi dear?"

"Um.." began Tsukushi. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to do this interview at all.

But Tsubaki wasn't listening again. Her hands were clasped together, and she had this dreamy look on her face. She had forgotten that she was still stepping on her younger brother. "Isn't this so wonderful? I think it's time for my little Tsukushi to be making her debut to the public as a future member of the Domyouji family..."

The fact that Tsukushi wasn't even married to Tsukasa seemed to have escaped her.

"... it was so hard deciding which magazine to feature Tsukushi first. Should it be a fashion magazine, a teen celebrity magazine, or a parenting magazine?" Tsubaki sighed dramatically to herself. "It would determine her reputation; so I decided on the parenting magazine to be safe - to have Tsukushi be a young model parent rather than have her be the feature of gossip..."

"Sister!" snapped Domyouji. "Are you done yet? You're still stepping on me!"

"Oh, right," Tsubaki removed her foot off his head, and returned to reality from her dreams of priming Tsukushi to be a member of the Domyouji family that was always under the attention of the media. "Anyway, the interview is at 1 pm tomorrow, on the 27th floor of the Domyouji Media complex. You're expected; just ask for the editor - his name is Laguna Loire."

* * *

Once again, Tsukushi found herself being shoved around by other people though Tsubaki had meant for it to be good. She was standing in the reception area of the Parenting Today office, waiting for the editor to come and greet them. Domyouji had simply introduced himself as Tsukasa and the receptionist had run screaming for the editor. 

The editor - Laguna Loire - returned shortly afterwards with a very dramatic looking lady behind him.

"Mr. Domyouji! I must say I'm very excited to finally have the pleasure of meeting the heir to Domyouji Enterprises. My name is Laguna Loire," he said, grabbing Domyouji's hand and shaking it so violently that Tsukushi was surprised it didn't fall off, "And this is Rita Sukita, who will be interviewing you today. She is -"

"Charmed to meet you, _absolutely_ charmed," said Rita, shoving Laguna out of her way as she grabbed Domyouji's hand and shook it vigorously. "Ah, and the lovely missus too. How do you do?" Without waiting for Tsukushi's answer or for her to correct the fact that she wasn't Domyouji's missus, she proceeded to grab Tsukushi's hand and shook it hard as well. "Please, come this way."

There was really no need for her to ask them to follow her. She had pretty much grabbed their arms and marched them aggressively down the corridor and towards a smaller room. However, before they entered, she had stuck her head into an office and called out, "Bozo. Get the cameras ready."

Once inside, they were seated comfortably into armchairs around a coffee table. The receptionist brought coffee in and Rita Sukita began her attack.

"Now, you wouldn't mind if I recorded this interview? I wouldn't want to miss any of this exclusive, mind-blowing stuff."

"Uh, well -" began Tsukushi, but Rita Sukita pressed the record button anyway. She pulled out a notepad and a pen.

"Okay. So, to begin - introduce a little about yourselves to me; a side of you that the public wouldn't know of. Actually, let's make it more interesting. Introduce each other to me."

Tsukushi felt flustered. She wasn't really used to these types of situations; in fact, this was the first time she was being interviewed.

"Well," began Domyouji smoothly. He was used to this; after all, he had been under the spotlight ever since birth. "It was love at first sight -"

_I bet it was for you,_ thought Tsukushi. _I certainly felt otherwise..._

"- for her, that is. She fell head over heels for my handsome self from the moment she set her eyes on me. Of course, I only thought of her as a commoner."

"WHAT?" gasped Tsukushi. "That's a load of bull. As a matter of fact, from the moment we met, he had always been abusing me. I hated him. I absolutely hated him. He was the one who stalked me first, and he made my life a living hell. As if I would fall in love with such a monster."

_At least I'm telling the truth._

Rita Sukita merely raised her eyebrows at the two contradictory statements. "Do continue."

"But, after a while, her cute antics won my heart over. I always had a soft spot for her in my heart."

"After we met, he kept bullying me more and more and set the whole school's rabid groupies on me."

Tsukushi was getting rather annoyed at the load of tripe Domyouji was making up that placed him in such a positive light. It sounded more like how he reacted to her rather than how she reacted to him.

"Well, how very interesting that the two parties should have such different perspectives. Beauty surely is in the eyes of the beholder," said Rita Sukita, scribbling furiously into her notepad. "Now, how about you describe each other? Like I said, introduce each other to me."

"Makino had always been in love with me. I mean, who wouldn't be? Although it was her one sided love at first, slowly, but surely, I returned the love. Makino may be a crude commoner who doesn't know when to shut her mouth sometimes, but she sure pulls off spectacular martial arts moves. She's courageous, unpretentious and protective of her friends, but while she is crude on the outside, her inside is gold. She's nothing like the other girls I know; they're absolutely crude, inside and out."

Tsukushi was surprised by his sudden change of tact, but wasn't about to let the fact that he had distorted the truth go so easily.

"Domyouji was the one who fell in love with me first - I absolutely hated him. He was a great big bullying git who thought that money would allow him do anything; even control the school. Even the teachers had to submit to his and his cronies' whims. I mean, what kind of stuffed up school is controlled by four students rather than the teachers? But while he may have some violent tendencies, be a bit selfish, can't use complex phrases correctly and enjoys using his power, status and money to bully people, he is also defends those he cares about. But _only _those he cares about."

Tsukushi was starting to feel a more satisfied with her revenge.

"Oh, very interesting indeed. Now, what are your thoughts on parenthood? A challenge? A hindrance perhaps? Especially to you - your future as the head of Domyouji Enterprises is at stake if you choose to father a child rather than take over the helm." Rita Sukita's pen hovered dangerously on the notepad.

Tsukushi was rather tempted to say, "Child? What child? It was all LIES!" but bit her tongue.

"I would never allow my baby to have a deprived childhood being raised by a cranny."

"He means a nanny," added Tsukushi helpfully. "As you can see, money cannot really buy you vocabulary."

"My childhood was like that, I certainly do not want my child going through what I had to. He will be raised only by his mother and father."

"I see. Now, do you two plan to have a traditional marriage, to strengthen your bonds of love as a family? Or as a hip, young, postmodern couple, do you think that love goes beyond the borders - oh, please_ do_ excuse my pun - of an A4 certificate?"

"Of course we are getting married!" snapped Domyouji. "It's a sacred and symbolic matter; it marks Makino as my princess, and I as her prince. It's so the whole world will know that we belong to each other - without it, there is nothing to bind us together."

The interview continued with Rita Sukita asking them questions pertaining to how they plan to raise their child - perhaps like Domyouji's lifestyle? Or like the child's mother's - a survivalist living? Tsukushi gave them a vague answer that went something like she would make sure that the child would understand both.

It was then that Rita Sukita asked a question that Tsukushi had not expected at all.

"Rumour has it that you were a former porn star under the pseudonym of 'Busty Barbie.' Could you please elaborate on that?"

"What the - !" said Tsukushi. _Damn you, Rui!_

"No, she isn't!" snapped Domyouji heatedly, as if he were the one who was the former porn star, as if he were the one who was called 'Busty Barbie.' "I would never have interest in _those_ kinds of women! Don't you DARE insult me like this. The next time you say something stupid like this, I'm going to strangle you."

Rita Sukita looked very surprised at Domyouji's defense over a rumour that didn't even concern him.

"She was, in fact, an astronaut," continued Domyouji heatedly. "NOT a porn star."

Tsukushi wondered how on earth he thought of that one to 'correct' her former occupation as a porn star. It was totally random and illogical. Even Rita was on the verge of asking if Tsukushi _really_ had been an astronaut, but chose to accept that as fact instead.

"For your information, morons," finished Domyouji in a triumphant manner. "Does it look like Makino has much of a bust to be warranted as 'busty'?"

Tsukushi felt as if she had been slammed by a truck.

On and on the interview went, more and more questions about babies, love, the effect the child would have on the economy, but mostly, the relationship between Domyouji and her. She guessed that was what most readers wanted to know.

Finally, Bozo, the photographer came, and Rita Sukita ordered them around, arranging them in different positions for a shoot. She had said that it would be for the front cover, and that there were going to be different poses for the photos accompanying the text. Most of them involved them in some kind of intimate hug - Domyouji had his arms wrapped around her; they had their arms around each other's waists while Domyouji shielded her protectively; one even had him giving her a piggy-back.

Finally, to Tsukushi's delight, they were finished. Rita Sukita wrapped up her notes, shook their hands, cried out dramatically at how exciting it was to be able to have the chance to interview them, lamented the fact that it could not have been longer, and how she hoped to be able to interview them again in the future. Before Rita Sukita could lament anymore, they had bade farewell to her and to the editor, and managed to escape the stuffiness of the office.

Interviews were so daunting. Tsukushi never wanted to do one again.

* * *

To her surprise, Eitoku had once again erupted in a fresh wave of gossip and speculation about her relationship with Domyouji. She wasn't really sure why; don't they get tired of talking about them? There was nothing new anymore; haven't they had enough about the supposed baby? 

It was later in the day, during mathematics class, when she found out the reason behind this new wave of interest. Every Eitoku student, none of which were parents nor of parenting age, were reading the latest issue of Parenting Today.

As she copied down notes for equations, Domyouji had once again burst in through the door (as he was used to doing these days) and disrupted the class - without getting into trouble, of course. Her teacher put down his notes as he and the class gazed admiringly at the head honcho of the F4.

"Ma-ki-nooooooooo!" he said in a sing-song voice, ignoring the whole class as it erupted into little squeals of "Domyouji!" (Mimasaka had taught him to be a bit more romantic by not to barking out "Makino" as if it were a command.) "Look at this!"

With that, he shoved everyone out of his way (not that he needed to, they had parted for him like the Red Sea), and wrapped his arms around Tsukushi from behind her. He held up the magazine that he had brought in to her face.

"What the hell?" cried Tsukushi. To sum it up in one word, she was simply _blown_ by the Parenting Today magazine that Domyouji was now waving in front of her face. On the front cover was the gigantic headline - _Makino Tsukushi - THE PROCREATION SENSATION_. Accompanying it was the picture of her and Domyouji wrapped around each other, her hands around his neck and his around her waist.

She grabbed the magazine off him, and quickly flicked to the cover story.

While there were pictures of her and Domyouji hugging each other in various positions, it was not that, but the story, that really caught her attention. Particular snippets had caught her attention; it seemed to her that because her and Domyouji's statements contradicted each other, Rita Sukita had compromised by making up her own enticing version of events. She probably didn't even use the interview notes.

_Domyouji Tsukasa and Makino Tsukushi, Japan's hottest young couple, have made headlines across the country with the announcement of the birth of their baby. Their relationship has been one marred with rumours and speculations; of fights between high ranking members of society over Miss Makino such as the incident between Akamasu Seinosuke and Domyouji Tsukasa; of their very disjunct social classes. Rita Sukita talks to them and founds out more about the real couple beneath the gossip - their love, their relationship, and their child._

_Domyouji Tsukasa and Makino Tsukushi had been childhood sweethearts, separated from each other after her father failed to raise enough for his family to live on in the city and so had to move into the countryside. But, before they parted, they had made a promise to meet each other again when they were older - at __Eitoku_ _Academy_

Tsukushi couldn't help but wonder if Rita Sukita was reading too much Love Hina.

_Domyouji was a sweet, kind and caring gentleman who immediately noticed Makino's warmth and friendliness on her return to Eitoku. He immediately pursued her, and a great bond formed between them. Friendship gave way to love; it was a match made in heaven._

Nishikaido and Mimasaka found the untruth in the article particularly amusing, and they made no qualms about it - they had made it a habit to wave it in front of her during lunch and to quote statements from it - particularly how Domyouji was sweet, kind and caring, and that they were a match made in heaven. Domyouji himself was pretty pleased at how the perspective was placed on their relationship.

_It was when the announcement of Makino's pregnancy that set their love in stone. They made a promise to each other to raise the child properly, without any care from nannies that Domyouji's wealth could afford him._

Tsukushi couldn't bear to read it anymore; by now, even Hanazawa Rui had burst into fits of laughter, tears rolling down his eyes as Mimasaka screamed out "Match made in heaven!" and Nishikaido sang a song sounding something like "Childhood sweethearts."

She slammed her hands down on their table and snapped, "Quit it."

"Sorry, Makino," laughed Mimasaka, "But aren't you supposed to be more warm and friendly?"

"C'mon, man, leave her alone," said Rui seriously. "She's Tsukasa's _childhood sweetheart_."

"Whatever," sighed Tsukushi, rolling her eyes. If even Hanazawa Rui were to find this funny, surely, it was the end of the world. "I'm leaving - I can't stand this anymore. Bye."

"Hey, Makino, where're you going?" cried Domyouji, surprised that she would be annoyed at the article.

She ignored him, grabbed her bag and stormed off out of the cafeteria. No more did she want to hear of this sugary nonsense. The students parted for her as they did for Domyouji; it seemed to her that some of them actually believed that the article was true, that they were indeed childhood sweethearts. She thought that they would have known better, given their history of him bullying her - surely, they would know that it wasn't love at first sight?

She made it out of the front gate and stormed out the street; some students were already leaving school because they had no afternoon classes.

Suddenly, a car pulled up next to her. It looked like Domyouji's car - yet, it couldn't've been. He was inside the cafeteria; perhaps he had called them here?

In a swift movement, three men came out and suddenly grabbed her. Tsukushi screamed and struggled, in the process dropping her bag on the floor as she writhed and kicked, bit and punched.

"Help! Get off me, you -"

But one of the men had pulled a handkerchief out and pushed it in her face. Slowly, but surely, she felt herself sinking into unconsciousness...

The three men quickly grabbed her and shoved her inside the car, and then, they sped off.

* * *

Next Chapter: Tsukushi - kidnapped! OH NOES! Who kidnapped her? Shigeru? Domyouji Tsukasa? Domyouji Kaede? LORD VOLDEMORT? 

Haha. I wonder who Rita Sukita is based off...


	9. The search for Tsukushi

Author's Note: Whew, I had to admit, this was much harder to write than the previous chapters, having to go step by step through all the theories they had about Tsukushi's disappearance.

Junpei makes a reappearance here! He was one of my favourite minor characters, along with Kin-san. Oooh, ooh, Amon gets a mention here too! Minor characters galore!

I might be updating a bit slower than usual now because of something called the World Cup... ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except the plot. :)

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter 9: The search for Tsukushi

* * *

"Perhaps we've gone a little too far this time," said Rui, a little worried. 

"Makino sure sounded annoyed," said Mimasaka.

"I think you should apologise to her for making a huge deal out of the article," added Nishikaido. "You waved it to everyone in the class, strut around showing off the article, and find it hilarious when she thought otherwise."

"Why should she be annoyed?" snapped Domyouji. "Any other girl would be pleased to be associated with me in such a widespread publication. She'll come running back to me in no time at all."

Mimasaka rolled his eyes at the warped way Domyouji interpreted events.

"Do you really think so?" laughed Rui. "She's not like any other girl."

"How many times had she run away from you and returned into your arms?" snorted Nishikaido. "Zilch. Nada."

"More like you went off in search of her," said Mimasaka.

"Whatever. She'll be coming back to me."

But Domyouji had realised how very wrong he was. Tsukushi had not come running back to him, and he was getting rather worried about her. At Rui's insistence that he should look for Tsukushi and apologise, he had succumbed.

"Fine, fine. I'll look for her. Just this once."

"Whatever," said Rui. "You always look for her. You follow her like a fat kid follows cakes."

The F4 then walked around school, peeking into every classroom to see whether Tsukushi would be hiding there. Domyouji had memorised her timetable, but it was of no help; she was not in class. She was neither in the gym, the library, or even the emergency staircase.

This was starting to trouble Domyouji, who began to accost random students about Tsukushi's whereabouts.

"No, Domyouji-san, I haven't seen her!" cried a student as he keeled over in pain when Domyouji punched the wind out of him.

"Stop that, Tsukasa! Punching them will not make Tsukushi return to you!" said Mimasaka, stepping in and saving the poor kid. "Why don't you try ringing her instead?"

Domyouji pulled out his phone and dialled. But she did not pick up. He dialled over and over, but still, she did not answer his call. That was rather uncharacteristic of her; even if she had decided to storm out, she would usually not ignore people like that.

"She's not picking up." said Domyouji flatly.

"She must be really angry to ignore you like this," said Nishikaido helpfully. "Obviously, she's pis-"

Domyouji shot him a very dangerous look that instantly shut Nishikaido up. He was bordering on murderous. Domyouji stalked off and looked as if he was going to go on a rampage beating up random Eitoku students when Rui stepped in and suggested, "Why don't we ask Sakurako or Kazuya? They might have some clue..."

To their dismay, neither Sakurako nor Kazuya had seen Tsukushi since the morning.

"Wasn't she with you guys?" said Kazuya, sounding a little hurt that his beloved Tsukushi would choose money over him.

"She was, but not anymore," said Rui. "She was getting very annoyed with us because we laughed so much about the Procreation Sensation article. Perhaps we went a little too far with a joke at her expense."

"Knowing Tsukushi, if she doesn't turn up in a few hours, she may have run away again," said Sakurako snidely. Mimasaka shot her a warning look not to elaborate any further - Domyouji's eyes were very blank and lifeless by now, shadows dancing darkly over them.

"Gee, thanks for your help," said Nishikaido, rolling his eyes. "Like knowing that she ran away is really going to help us find her."

"When Tsukushi runs away, she always runs to someone she knows, right?" stated Sakurako. "Why don't you try the most obvious people?"

"Like?" said Nishikaido. "Clues, man, clues."

"Yuki-chan? Her mother and father? You know, she has run off to both of them before."

Nishikaido called up Yuki, and Rui called her parents. Neither of them had heard from Tsukushi, and they were equally surprised by her sudden disappearance. Yuki even offered to call up Tsukushi's junior high school friends to see if any of them had heard from her.

"Nope. Yuki hasn't seen her," reported Nishikaido.

"Nor her parents," added Rui.

"Useless commoners," muttered Domyouji darkly. Whether he was referring to Tsukushi or to Yuki and her parents was beyond them.

"Perhaps Shigeru kidnapped her again," suggested Mimasaka.

Sakurako called up Shigeru and asked if she had kidnapped Tsukushi again. Shigeru, however, vehemently denied it, and at Domyouji's request, she had went around Eirin looking for Kin-san. She had informed them that Kin-san was rather surprised by the news that Tsukushi could not be contacted, and had offered any assistance he could give which Domyouji, being a very proud man, had refused.

"She may also be staying with other people," said Sakurako. "She stayed with that Domyouji look-alike before, right? She might have sought his assistance again."

Domyouji thus swallowed his pride and called up Kunisawa Amon (after obtaining his number from a phone book). Amon had simply stated that she was not with him; after all, she wasn't _his_ girlfriend now, was she?

"Tsukushi's not the type of girl to just run off to any old guy," Amon had said, and Domyouji saw the truth in his words.

"Maybe she's simply at home," said Rui, "And left her phone somewhere so she couldn't hear it."

Domyouji called up Tama; yet again, they had hit a dead end. Tama had not seen her all day, and nor had the other servants.

It was really worrying now them now. Tsukushi was not answering her phone; nor was she hiding with someone she knew. Could she really be _that_ angry with them? Or maybe...

"Maybe she was kidnapped," whispered Rui. He had just verbalised their worst fear.

"But, by who?" said Nishikaido. "Shigeru denies it. Could it be -"

"Him. It's that model kid again, isn't it?" growled Domyouji, rising up. "I'm going to kill him."

"Wait! Tsukasa! You don't have any proof!" said Mimasaka, trying to restrain him. But it was no use; Domyouji shoved him out of his way. The F3 tried with all their might to restrain him, but to no avail; Domyouji got Oribe Junpei's whereabouts by beating some poor kid senseless. It was then that they found Junpei passing by in a corridor outside the music rooms.

"YOU!" shouted Domyouji, striding forwards quickly and cutting into Junpei's path. "You're up to your pathetic tricks again, aren't you?"

"What are you talking about?" said Junpei smoothly, unperplexed by the fact that Domyouji suddenly sought him out. "Make some sense for once in your life, will you?"

"You know what I'm talking about," whispered Domyouji dangerously, grabbing Junpei's collar and slamming him against the wall of the corridor. "You kidnapped her again, didn't you?"

By now, a crowd had gathered to watch the confrontation between two of the Eitoku girls' favourite boys - the leader of the F4 versus the alluring fashion model. Nishikaido, Mimasaka, and Rui stood there helplessly, torn between stopping another senseless beating and letting Domyouji get his revenge from the last time Junpei had betrayed Tsukushi's trust and beaten Domyouji up.

"Why, perhaps you should get it into your head that she ran away from you? Just because she's not with you doesn't mean someone took her from you," grinned Junpei menacingly.

Domyouji's eyes widened, but then they squinted back in anger as Domyouji slammed his fist against Junpei's face. Junpei stared back coolly at Domyouji as he wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. Some girls had screamed and covered their faces at that sight.

"Do you really think that she would love someone who bullied her and made her life at school so miserable?" continued Junpei, adding fuel to the fire. He was laughing now, despite the fact that the blood was dripping down his shirt. "Who'd need to kidnap her from you when she would run away herself? I'm not surprised at all that she's disappeared."

"You're asking for a beating," whispered Domyouji, slamming Junpei's head against the wall repeatedly as he slumped over in pain.

"Don't listen to his taunts! They're not true!" said Nishikaido.

"Who was the one who red-tagged her? Who was the one who gave her all those physical and emotional wounds? And who is it now that is causing her all this misery by making up stupid stories about her in magazines? Who is the one that ruined her future by making her a teenage mother? You and her, childhood sweethearts! Don't make me laugh..."

"Kid," warned Nishikaido, "If you know what's good for you, you'd have the sense to shut up."

"You don't like it when people say the truth?" said Junpei. "You F4 freaks really are the dictators of Eitoku - suppression of truth now, eh?"

"Just tell us if you were stupid enough to kidnap her again," snapped Mimasaka. He was getting rather impatient with Junpei's mind games.

"Why should I?" smiled Junpei serenely. "If you were smart enough, you would've picked up it up from what I said."

"He said he didn't kidnap her," said Rui.

"Like I said, who needs to when she'll run away from you people, the ones who caused her pain?" snickered Junpei. "I would never hurt Tsukushi a second time by doing that again; she doesn't deserve this crap like you people do."

"Don't talk as if you are Makino's guardian angel!" yelled Domyouji, "Who was the one who used her, who pretended to be her friend just to beat me up? Don't you dare act as if you never hurt her. This punch," he said, smashing his knuckles into Junpei's face, "Is for all the hurt you caused Makino. And this punch," he continued, smashing his face again. "Is for all the pain you caused me. And this," he added, slamming his head repeatedly against the wall, "Is for pretending to be Tsukushi's avocado!"

"You mean advocate, right?" added Mimasaka wearily.

Junpei's eyes closed as he slid down the wall. His shirt was covered in blood, and his face was bruised. His tie was on the floor from when Domyouji grabbed him again.

"Let him be," sighed Mimasaka. "Don't waste any more of your time and energy on tripe like that, he's just purposely pulling your strings."

He pulled a heavily breathing Domyouji away from Junpei, and the F4 began to leave. But before going, Rui had turned to Junpei and said in a cold voice, "You seriously asked for the beating yourself. You should never have angered him so much when he was already so murderous."

"You think you can just beat anyone up whenever you felt like it," laughed Junpei snidely, still refusing to give up.

"You should just be grateful that he didn't decide to red tag you," warned Rui. "Yet."

The F4 made their way back to their usual table in the cafeteria, although everyone seemed a little more afraid of them as usual. The news of Junpei's beating must've spread throughout the school; or maybe it was simply the blood on Domyouji's hands that was scaring them.

"So, it wasn't that wretched model," said Nishikaido. "Who else could it be?"

"Mother," whispered Domyouji hoarsely. "I bet it was that old witch again, up to her usual tricks!"

He got up again and stormed out the school gates.

"Tsukasa! Tsukasa!" cried Mimasaka, as Nishikaido and Rui ran after him, trying to catch up with Domyouji. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna beat the truth out of Nishida." said Domyouji.

"Wait! You can't! He's not going to tell you anything!" said Nishikaido.

Rui was following them silently when he noticed something lying on the ground.

"Isn't that... Tsukushi's bag?" he said, and walked over to it and picked it up. "Hey, Tsukasa. Stop."

Domyouji, Mimasaka and Nishikaido stopped their bickering and turned around. Tsukushi's bag was indeed in Rui's hands.

"What - isn't that Makino's bag?' said Domyouji.

"What's she doing, leaving it on the ground like this?" said Nishikaido.

"You know, it's rather unlike her to leave her _only_ worldly possession lying on here," said Rui. "There's something odd about this. I highly doubt that Tsukushi would just throw her bag off and leave it here."

"I bet that old witch kidnapped her," insisted Domyouji. "Funny that this should happen right after the article was released. I'm going to beat Nishida up."

"No! This is a matter for the police!" cried Mimasaka, holding him back before he beat anymore more people up. "Besides, you don't have any proof either!"

"Let's ask around to see if there are any eyewitnesses who can solve the mystery as to why Tsukushi would leave her bag lying here," said Rui sensibly.

After asking a every student passing the school gates for a while, they had indeed pieced together the puzzle. Tsukushi was indeed drugged and dragged into a car not unlike Domyouji's car. When they were asked why no one did anything to help her, or why this incident hadn't spread through the school like wildfire, or why no one had called the police, they students had all unanimously given this one reply - they had thought it was Domyouji-san kidnapping his own girlfriend.

"We've seen you do that before," said one student. "We assumed it was you again, so we thought it was quite normal. That was why we didn't help her or called the police."

"Because, if we interfered," added another student, "We would've been ...um.. beaten up by you..."

The past was catching up with the present. Domyouji felt like kicking himself for doing such stupid things in the past. He wished he had never forcefully taken her to his place for a makeover.

"It's quite the norm to see Makino being kidnapped," added another student. Domyouji didn't need any reminding about this, and so he proceeded to beat that kid up.

"Did you see who kidnapped her?" said Rui, stepping in.

"No," gasped the poor kid, nursing his arms. None of the other people did. All they had seen were some men, dressed in black suits, looking very much like the Domyouji family spies, jumping out of the car and grabbing her; that was why they assumed it was Domyouji who was behind all this.

"We'll have to report this to the police," said Mimasaka. "You can't handle this on your own - you don't even know who did it."

"Mother did!" insisted Domyouji.

"You have no proof." said Nishikaido. "Look, we'll report her as a missing person for now, okay? Even though it hasn't been twenty four hours yet, I think this bag may be enough proof. The police have an extensive network, and with them on our side, it'll be much easier to track her down."

This finally convinced Domyouji to seek the help of the police, and a while later, they were sitting on the hard wooden benches as they waited for their turn to be served. They were soon called up, and as Domyouji was about to make his statement and show them Tsukushi's bag, his phone rang. He pulled it out excitedly, and to his delight, the caller was Makino Tsukushi.

"Makino?" whispered Domyouji half excitedly, half angrily. "Where the hell are you? I was so worried, I -"

"Domyouji Tsukasa," replied the male voice. This was not Tsukushi at all. "Your girlfriend and your child is in our hands. You have forty eight hours to comply with our requests, or we will kill them."

* * *

Next Chapter: Who kidnapped her? Is Tsukushi safe? And for what? 

I'm so sorry to have to do something like this to Junpei; I had rather liked him as a character.

I've run out of a backlog of chapters; I'm gonna have to get off my lazy bum now and write Chapter 10.


	10. Operation: Rescue Tsukushi

Author's Note: The beginning of this chapter takes place simultaneously i.e.. at the same time as Chapter Nine. Yep. Whereas Chapter Nine was from Domyouji's side of things, the first half of Chapter Ten is from Tsukushi's side of things - what is happening to her at the same time as what was happening to Domyouji during the last chapter.

Sorry for the slight backtrack, but I think it's necessary to get the whole picture...

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except the plot. :)

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter 10: Operation: Rescue Tsukushi

* * *

Tsukushi's eyes fluttered open. Her neck was hurting. She reached up a hand to give it a massage when, she found, that she couldn't. To her surprise, her hands were bound together behind her back. 

She opened her mouth to scream out to whoever did this stupid prank - Mimasaka? Nishikaido? Domyouji? - to let her go immediately. But she realised she couldn't do that either; her mouth was gagged.

Just to make sure if this was real or not, she wriggled her feet. To her dismay, she realised that they, too, were bound.

This seemed to go far beyond what the F4 would deem as a decent prank. No, they'd never go this far; not on her, at least.

She pulled herself up by a lot of squirming and surveyed her surroundings, trying to make sense of her situation. She was lying on a hard bed in a small, sparsely furnished room; apart from the bed, the only other piece of furniture was a simple wooden desk and a strict looking chair. There was a door at the other end of the room, but it was closed, and there was no way she would be able to get up and open it. At the other end of the room was a window, but a blind was pulled down over it so that Tsukushi could not see the outside.

There was no use; she was immobile, and she was locked in. But her weed power refused to lose, and she found herself immediately thinking of a way to, at least, get herself untied.

But how? There was no sharp object in the room save for the blinds, and they weren't really that sharp either. As she flopped back onto the bed in despair, a hard lump jabbed at her.

It was her mobile phone, sitting in her pocket all this time!

She wriggled around in the hopes of squeezing her phone out of her pocket. She squirmed around on the bed, making various twists and manoeuvres trying to push the phone out. She finally managed to squeeze the phone out, and it fell off the small bed, landing on the floor silently.

As it fell, she tried to catch the phone, but forgot that her hands were tied behind her. As a consequence of this, she ended up toppling onto the floor after her phone with a loud, dull thud.

Her crash onto the floor alerted whoever it was beyond the door to her attempts at escaping. The door flew open, and a rather big man came in. He was plainly attired in a dark top and dark trousers, and his face was covered by a balaclava. He looked very much like a criminal. He was followed by a much smaller person whom Tsukushi supposed was a woman from her body shape. She, too, was plainly dressed, and was also covered by a balaclava. Tsukushi could see nothing but their eyes.

"Oh, so you're finally awake?" he smirked. He walked over and pulled the gag off her mouth, but did nothing to help her up from the floor.

"Who are you?" said Tsukushi. That was the first question that she could think of, despite being sprawled across the floor most unfashionably.

"Do you think I'd really tell you?" he snorted, laughing most evilly. "But if you insist on calling my something, you can call me Gin."

"Did you... bring me here?" Tsukushi couldn't bear to say 'kidnapped' because it would seem to make her reality as a captive official.

"Yes, we did," he said loftily, as if it were no big deal.

Tsukushi felt a chill run down her spine when he called her by her exact name. She didn't know who they were, yet they seemed to know who _she_ was - her name and where she went to school, at the very least.

"I'm... I'm not Makino Tsukushi," muttered Tsukushi. Perhaps that was why they kidnapped her. Because she was Makino Tsukushi. Maybe if she insisted that they had got the wrong person, they would let her go.

"Don't lie," snapped the woman irritably, pulling out a magazine. With a sinking feeling, Tsukushi realised that it was Parenting Today - the issue with Domyouji and her on the front cover and the one featuring her debut Procreation Sensation article. "A girl who bears such an uncanny resemblance to the Makino Tsukushi on the cover, _and _also attending Eitoku Academy? I don't think so. We knew you were the one when you walked out the front gates. We waited for you for three hours, and not a single other girl looked so much like the Makino Tsukushi on the cover."

Tsukushi felt her heart skip a beat and cursed her luck, cursed Domyouji, cursed Domyouji's warped mine for bringing up such a stupid plan, cursed Parenting Today, cursed Domyouji Media Holdings, cursed her inability to resist Tsunami's attempts at trying to make her officially a part of the Domyouji family and cursed the fact that she had to attend Eitoku and became involved with Domyouji Tsukasa in the first place. She never would have imagined, despite how fruitful her imagination was, that a supposedly innocent article could end up causing her so much trouble.

"And now that you are awake, Miss Makino Tsukushi, we have certain business to attend to," cut in the man under the alias of Gin. "Where is your phone?"

"It's not here," lied Tsukushi, still lying across the floor, her phone hidden underneath her. She was going to cling onto her last desperate hope of escape, she was going to guard it with - she hope it did not come down to it - her life.

"Get up," said the man coolly, his ice cold eyes narrowed at her.

Tsukushi made no attempt to get up; after all, it was their fault that she couldn't. The woman rushed forward and heaved Tsukushi up and back onto the bed, and her phone was revealed. Tsukushi felt as if all hope had been drained from her.

"Your phone's not here, eh? You're not Makino Tsukushi, eh?" said Gin. "You're a cheeky one, aren't you? Nice attempt and all, but the next time you lying to me, I think I will break your fingers."

He looked pretty serious about that threat too. Picking up her phone, he flipped it open, and jabbed some buttons.

"Domyouji Tsukasa, eh," he muttered. He pressed dial and held the phone to his ear, and a few seconds later, he said, "Domyouji Tsukasa. Your girlfriend and your child is in our hands. You have forty eight hours to comply with our requests, or we will kill them."

* * *

On the other side of the phone, Domyouji was stunned by what he had heard. Was this real? Was this a lie? Tsukushi's absence was driving him crazy and he was willing to believe pretty much anything that people said to him now about her whereabouts. 

But the first thing that he managed to blurt was, "Who the hell are you!"

Nishikaido, Mimasaka and Rui turned to him, stunned at this unexpected statement. They could hear none of the other side of the conversation, and to have Domyouji suddenly question who Tsukushi was rather, well, surprising.

"That's none of your business," was the cool reply. "I am the one who has your girlfriend in his hands."

"I don't believe you," whispered Domyouji, losing his nerve. Despite being powerful and influential most of the time, being without Tsukushi left him feeling hapless and sapped of power.

"You don't? Should I show you the truth?"

A ruffling noise was heard and the sound of someone being pushed against something - perhaps a wall - followed it. Domyouji heard snippets of someone talking in the background; he distinctly heard a man's commanding voice saying "Talk to him." The next thing Domyouji heard was Tsukushi.

"Dom...Domyouji?" said Tsukushi hesitantly, the phone held to her ear as she was forced from her position lying on the bed to an upright sitting position against the wall.

"Makino! Where are you? Are you okay? Are you mad at me? I... I miss you. I miss you so much that I think my heart is about to break," A flood of relief spread over Domyouji as a flood of questions came from his lips. It was a relief to know she was alive. It was a relief to know that at least she did not seem to be mad at him.

"I'm... I'm okay. I'm not hurt or anything, but I'm tied up in this really bare looking room and -"

The phone was pulled away from her before Tsukushi could give off any more details about where or with who she could possibly be.

"Enough with these details." The voice that came back on was the man. "I'll get straight to the point. If you want your beloved back, you are to agree to all my conditions without any exceptions. I want you to give me half of what Domyouji Enterprises is worth, in return for your girlfriend and your child's life. I'm not greedy. I'm only asking for a mere half, in exchange for not one, but two lives. Two lives that are precious to you. I will call you again in about six hours time. You are not to contact the police. Have a nice day."

With that, the man, whoever he was, hung up, leaving Domyouji lost for words and stunned by this new development.

"Who was that?" demanded Nishikaido. It was, for sure, not Tsukushi.

"It..." muttered Domyouji, his eyes wide, uncharacteristically paralysed with fear - fear for Tsukushi's safety. He felt his throat go dry as the words rolled lifelessly from his lips, "It was her kidnappers."

"Kidnappers?" said Rui. "Then you _must_ tell the police."

"NO!" Domyouji cried out. "We can't! They'll hurt Makino! They might kill her!"

"Look," snapped Rui in an irritable manner which surprised Nishikaido and Mimasaka. His fists clenched Tsukushi's bag, still in his hands, trying hard to stop them from shaking so much in anger. "What the hell are you going to do if you don't tell the police! Only the police have the powers and the resources to resolve this crisis!"

"I..." sighed Domyouji hollowly, his shoulders slumped. "I... I don't know. But I'll rescue her. I'll just pay whatever they demand and get her out. Somehow. Please, don't tell the police. The kidnappers specifically said not to. "

"And are you going to listen to their demands, and fall into their trap?" retorted Rui. "Stop playing the superhero and be realistic for once. You, sir, are not invincible. Get over it. You may be invincible at school, and perhaps much of life, but not in this current situation. You are not going to rescue her alone. You can't do it. If you listen to the kidnappers and just sit around, waiting for their orders, I think that is rather selfish of you. You're not putting any effort at all into freeing her."

The gravity of Rui's words sunk in, and the truth did sting. Even Domyouji could not think of a backlash against that one. He sighed haplessly. "It's no use. It's all my fault. If I didn't make her so angry, she wouldn't've left. If she didn't leave, she would not have been kidnapped. It's all my fault."

"No, Tsukasa. It's not. We made her angry too. And it's not your fault that there happened to be people who wanted to kidnap her," said Mimasaka, putting a comforting arm around Domyouji.

"We're in this together," said Nishikaido. "We want Makino to be safe too. We'll think of the best way to get her out, okay?"

His three best friends closed in around him and their mere presence was uplifting. The encouragement from his friends seemed to revive the beast inside Domyouji, and his lethargic helplessness was replaced by a fiery resolve to take no crap from the kidnappers and get Tsukushi out safely, using whatever avenue it required.

"Domyouji Tsukasa isn't the type of person who'd take crap from anyone," smiled Rui. "Especially not the vermin that took away the one he loved most."

"Alright. Time to tell the police," said Domyouji firmly, "Screw their orders."

He walked up to the policewoman at the counter who had been waiting patiently while they had been arguing over the best way to rescue Makino. He went into a lengthy explanation of who he was, who Tsukushi was, how the article annoyed Tsukushi, where they had found Tsukushi's bag, and the eyewitness accounts and what they'd assumed to have happened from it. Domyouji elaborated on the phone call he had just received and the type of person he'd been communicating with, the minute details of the conversation. Rui then handed over Tsukushi's satchel so that it could be analysed for clues.

The policewoman absorbed it all and they were subsequently referred to a young detective, who was supposedly arising star of the police force with a genius for figuring alibis and motivations behind crimes. He greeted the F4 and then introduced himself.

"My name is Shinichi Kudo," he said, shaking Domyouji's hand. "It's a pleasure to be working with you. I've handled homicide cases before, but this is the very first time I've been assigned to an abduction."

He was a young man with dark brown hair, and he did not seem to be that much older than them. In fact, he looked to be of the same age as them, but Domyouji wasn't quite sure. His youth, however did not translate into his fashion sense; he had a rather quaint sense of style. He was dressed in a horribly bright blue suit and was wearing a dazzling red bow tie, and the brilliance of it all simply made Nishikaido and Mimasaka cringe.

"Now, let's go somewhere with some peace and quiet, shall we? You can begin by recounting everything you know so far to me."

Shinichi lead them to a rather threadbare interview room, where the F4 repeated the whole account of what had happened to him whilst he scribbled down some notes furiously. He asked them many questions; if they knew what the number plate of the car was, the number of men that came out and grabbed Tsukushi and other fine details that the F4 had not previously thought about.

Even after going over every detail, they failed to come up with answers. However, Shinichi Kudo, being the brilliant detective that he was, had by no means exhausted every avenue. He insisted on going back to the school and questioning the witnesses for more clues as to Tsukushi's last actions before she was abducted, and finally, from a consensus of the witness's statements, he had managed to come up with an accurate description of the getaway vehicle and its license plate.

"Well," said Shinichi brightly, after at least a tiring three hours of questioning witnesses and inspecting the Eitoku's grounds. "At least we have made a pretty big leap in terms of catching those thugs!"

"So, do you know who they are now?" said Domyouji hopefully.

"Of course not!" grinned Shinichi cheerfully, whereupon at that point the F4 all did a very synchronised head-desk.

"But," he continued seriously. "Knowing the number of the plate will allow us find out who the car is registered under, and we can then question the owner."

Detective Shinichi Kudo turned to one of the police officers, and said, "Inspector Megure. Could you please get Mouri to find out who this number plate -" Shinichi quickly scribbled some numbers and letters onto a sheet of paper. "- and get back to me with the name and license number of the owner?"

Inspector Megure obeyed, and once he left, Shinichi continued. "We can appeal to the public for any witnesses who had seen that car a little after the time of Miss Makino's kidnapping. With that, we plot the route that the car took, and with a bit of luck, we might end up near the vicinity where they took her."

"Oh, right. We should appeal to the public." said Domyouji, thoroughly relieved that this was finally going somewhere. But somehow, it just didn't seem right. "Wait. Did you say _appeal to the public_? Meaning that we will broadcast it on television?"

"That's right!" grinned Shinichi cheerfully.

"You're not doing that," snapped Domyouji.

"And, pray tell, why shouldn't I?" said Shinichi, now looking at him directly, almost as if he were challenging him.

"Because, her kidnappers will know that I've gone to the police, and then they will hurt her. I'll kill anyone who had any part in it, and that includes people who instigated the kidnappers into hurting her," whispered Domyouji dangerously, cracking his knuckles.

"Don't you want her to be free?" said Shinichi tersely.

"Yes, I do."

"Then, please, trust me. I've solved many cases like this, and I know how the mind of a criminal works. Without an appeal to the public, you're not going to get anywhere," said Shinichi. "You're worried about them hurting her, right? They won't be able to lay a finger on her, at least, they can't kill her, until you have paid her ransom."

"There's logic in that," said Rui honestly. "It's for the best to do that."

"Didn't you say that you weren't going to take orders from them?" reminded Mimasaka.

Domyouji stared worriedly from one friend to another, but they all nodded encouragingly at him, urging him to release a public appeal. Finally, he gave in, and sighed.

"Let's get on with it."

* * *

It wasn't the first time Tsukushi had been kidnapped. Being involved with Domyouji had pretty much ended her life living as a normal student. She would never have thought that one day she would be worth the effort of being kidnapped. She had been abducted three times already, and Domyouji had been involved in some way or another, either as the cause or the reason. The first culprit had been Domyouji himself, forcing a makeover on her. The second had been by Junpei, and she had been used as a decoy to take revenge upon Domyouji. The third time, she had been forcefully taken to see Domyouji Kaede so that she could be notified of Domyouji and Shigeru's pending engagement. The fourth time was by Shigeru because she had some strange, warped idea to force Tsukushi and Domyouji together that to this day, she still could not understand why Shigeru would bother. 

But all three of those incidences were relatively harmless - perhaps, with the exception of the Junpei's - in comparison to this one. Domyouji and Shigeru's kidnapping was pretty much a childish prank; Junpei's was simply a high school revenge attack. But this - there was something that told her that this was serious - this was the stuff that happened to people who appeared on the news, not her!

And, unbeknownst to her, appear on the news she did.

"_In a tragic development to the fairytale that has been gripping the hearts and minds of the nation, Makino Tsukushi, girlfriend of the heir to the Domyouji millions, has been abducted from her school early this afternoon," _said the pretty anchor lady on the news. "_Police are appealing for any witnesses who may have seen this car with this number plate at around 1 pm yesterday afternoon to contact the police on the twenty-four hour police hotline number on the screen. The news of her abduction sent Domyouji stocks tumbling down at the closing of the stock market..."_

The public appeal was worth every risk that they took against Tsukushi's safety; it had been very fruitful. Many calls were made to the police hotline and from every statement, Shinichi Kudo and his fellow detective, Hattori Heiji, were able to piece together the descriptions and plot the route that the car went after it left Eitoku on a gigantic map. However, it had reached a dead end...

"... at an area around here," said Heiji, who had also been assigned to this case after the police force stepped up its efforts to rescue Tsukushi. He circled the zone where Tsukushi was most likely to have ended up in. "I guess we should just wait for more calls for now."

It had been very disappointing for Shinichi and Heiji when the results from the analysis of Tsukushi's bag came back - the only fingerprints on it were Tsukushi's and Rui's, because he had been the one to find the bag.

Their disappointment, however, was quickly countered by yet another clue to this puzzle - Inspector Megure came back with the name of the owner under which the car of concern was registered.

"Kaworu Nagisa?" said Shinichi, frowning.

"Yes. But the funny thing is, after we searched the births and deaths registry, as well as the marriage registry, is that Kaworu Nagisa is supposed to be dead," said Megure. "He died a year ago."

"Then it must be a case of identity theft," said Shinichi, getting rather excited by the growing complexity of this case.

But despite this new clue, they had, once again, reached a brick wall.

"I think we should call it a day," said Heiji. "You must be exhausted. Would you all like coffee?"

"Flat white, please," said Domyouji. He definitely needed the stimulation.

"Milk tea," said Rui.

"Definitely an iced mocha," said Mimasaka.

"Oolong tea," said Nishikaido, although oolong tea wasn't necessarily coffee.

"We only have instant coffee here. This isn't Starbucks, you know," said Heiji flatly. As he got up to make the coffee, Domyouji's phone rang again.

Domyouji looked at the screen. It was the call he had been anticipating - the instructions on depositing the ransom so that Tsukushi could be released.

"It's Makino," he said, looking at the detectives.

"Don't answer it yet," said Shinichi, and with a quick nod at Megure, they quickly and efficiently hooked Domyouji's mobile phone onto very technologically advanced looking eavesdropping and call tracing apparatus. Shinichi and Heiji quickly pulled on the headphones that were connected to the eavesdropping thingamabob that Domyouji had no idea what it was called.

With a curt nod and instructions to draw out the conversation as long as possible from Heiji, Domyouji answered his phone.

"Hello?" he said cautiously.

"Hello, Mr. Domyouji," replied the sinisterly familiar voice. "Great work going on television and all."

"YOU! Don't you dare hurt a hair of Makino's!"

"For not listening to my instructions, especially when I explicitly told you to accept all my conditions lest you might compromise her safety, I might have taken out my frustrations on her. Perhaps once or twice."

"If you killed her, I swear, I will make sure that you won't live even if you had nine lives."

"Hollow threats, big boy. Rest assured, she's still alive. I just gave her a slap or two so that she'll remember to teach her boyfriend to listen to instructions properly. Now, onto the payment details. You want to free her, right? You are to deposit the money into my foreign account, of which its details I will be sending you in a short text message after this call so that you will have no excuse about getting my account number wrong."

"Before I pay you," said Domyouji, "I would like to know how you're going to keep your end of the bargain."

"You have my word for it," said the man simply.

"I don't trust you."

"You are in no position to say whether you trust me or not."

"I will pay eighty percent of your demands first," said Domyouji, "And once you release Makino, I will pay the other twenty percent."

"And, on what grounds am I to believe that you will pay that other twenty percent? I don't trust _you_ either. You have no right to haggle with me. Accept my conditions or accept the fact that you won't be seeing dear Miss Makino here again."

"Fine. I accept. However, I will not pay you until I can confirm that Makino is, at least alive. Let me speak to her," said Domyouji, praying hard that he would get to hear her voice and know that they had not killed her because he had contacted the police and made an appeal to the public.

"I'm a man of my word. Get her over here," said the man, and a bit of shuffling was heard in the background. The next voice on the phone was indeed Tsukushi, sounding a bit exhausted but at the very least, alive.

"Makino! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, sounding rather weary. "I'm a bit hungry, and a little scared, but I'm fine."

"Did they hurt you!"

"Just a little," she said, laughing rather cynically, "But it's nothing compared to what you Eitoku jerks put me through. You do remember who was responsible for all that, right? It was -"

Once again, the phone was cruelly snatched from her, and the kidnapper ended their conversation, "Remember. One hundred percent of the payment, and then I will send you instructions regarding her release."

With that, he hung up.

"Gotcha," grinned Shinichi, pulling off the headphones that he had been using to eavesdrop while he went about working out the x and y coordinates of the mobile phone from the signals it had been sending to the reception tower. "We've managed to trace the call, and we've sent the data to the telecom companies. She should be -" He pulled out a pin, a stuck it onto a very specific point on the map, "- right here."

"That's great and all," said Domyouji flatly. "But if I recall correctly, that's a residential apartment block that's over thirty four stories high. You know she's in that building, but that's thirty four levels you're going to have to search."

"Get me a blueprint of the building, and a list of its tenants," said Shinichi. An officer returned with them.. With the blueprint, he pointed out specific details and said, "The x and y coordinates we got should eliminate the eastern half of the building. This means that she should only be in apartments G to N of any level. That's half of the apartments we don't have to search."

"And now, the tenants list," said Shinichi. "Help me out, Heiji. See if you see any familiar names."

They scanned the names and details of each occupant living in apartment G to N of each level when they found it.

"Hah!" cried Heiji triumphantly. "I can't believe that some people can be so stupid. 'Kaworu Nagisa' lives in apartment H on the twenty seventh level. Good gracious, I can't believe that he'd use the name of a deceased man twice!"

"Now we're in action," said Shinichi. "Contact the counter-terrorism department. Tell them to get ready. We're going to get her out by force."

* * *

Next Chapter: Tsukushi is going to be rescued - in an exciting showdown of police action! Will it be successful, or will the kidnappers make sure that their trump card will not be taken away so easily? Find out next chapter! (Where endeth all drama!) 

Gee, I wonder who these detectives and police officers and baddiesare named after... hmm.

Blargh. This took me so long to type up. Especially if you do it at 2 am in the morning.


	11. Tango one

Author's Note: I think I will refer to Mimasaka as Akira and Nishikaido as Soujiro from this chapter on. For one thing, it's easier to type ;). There's also another reason which will become obvious later on. Forgive me if I use their surnames and first names interchangeably.

I'm so happy that you all recognised Shinichi Kudo from Detective Conan! As you can probably tell, I'm a big fan of Conan too...

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except the plot. :)

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter 11: Tango One

* * *

Later that night, police began the operation to rescue Tsukushi. Swiftly but silently, occupants of the apartment complex in which Tsukushi was held were evacuated. After that, police invaded the building; taking over the guard's office in which the surveillance and control of the elevators was placed. Roads surrounding the building were cordoned off. The emergency stairs and exits were sealed off to prevent any of the kidnappers escaping, and counter-terrorism police, masked and deadly looking, moved in. The plan from the counter-terrorism department was to surround the kidnappers from all sides so that not a single one of them could escape, and in the process, wrench Tsukushi from their grasp, thereby killing two birds with one stone; their arrest and Tsukushi's freedom. 

"Do we really need counter-terrorism police?" said Domyouji, amazed at the meteoric way in which the police operation had stepped up. "They're just professional criminals out to make a quick buck from me."

"They're terrorists because they have the potential to ruin the economy. Economic terrorists," replied Detective Shinichi Kudo. "Plus, we need a real life hostage drama every now and then, and who better than to have the girl that's been part of the headlines about a 'fairytale union'?"

The F4 were sitting in a large police bus, parked in a quiet corner of the street, that served as the control centre of the operation. It looked like a plain bus on the outside, except for the weird antennas and satellite dishes sticking out of it like a sore thumb. Inside was a vast array of computers with very specialised operating systems and all sorts of strange devices that even Domyouji had not seen before. He wasn't even sure why he was allowed into such an area - wasn't this unprofessional conduct? - but he supposed that the F4, all being men of high profile, were given some leeway. A media contingent had been alerted to the unfolding hostage drama and had gathered around the scene of crime, and the police had decided to allow the F4 access to the police bus to give them some privacy (as well as preventing them from blurting anything that may hinder police operations.)

Ah, the perks of being rich and famous! Domyouji had never really been an avid fan of police dramas, but he felt that his opinion was going to sway after this.

The commander of the counter-terrorism department was finalising the plans with Detective Hattori Heiji and Shinichi Kudo, tweaking the fine details. From the blueprint of the building, apartment 27H had one face on the western face of the complex, and a bedroom and the kitchen had windows on that face. Two squads of five counter terrorism police were to invade apartment 27H simultaneously; the 'red' team, as they were dubbed by colours, was to abseil down from the top of the thirty fourth floor into the kitchen and the apartment; the 'blue' team was to burst in through the front door.

The police had no idea how many kidnappers were involved, but an estimate on their dossier was around five - a number that they were confident that their ten well equipped men were able to handle easily. Another unknown was where exactly Tsukushi was held, but their guess was either the living room or the bedroom.

"Red team, blue team," said the commander of the counter terrorism department into a microphone. "Are you ready?"

"Red team is ready," replied the leader of the red team, his voice reverberating though the bus.

"Blue team is also ready."

"The time now is twenty two fifty five. At twenty three zero zero, at my command, red team is to swing in through the windows and the blue team is to burst in through the doors. Once you find tango one, report. The rest of you are to cover for him until he is safely out the front door with tango one. You are not to abseil her down, because tango one is pregnant and if you make her lose the baby, I'll have to pay with my head. Also, you won't have the time to hook abseiling equipment onto her. After tango one is safely out, you are to make sure none of the kidnappers escape. I want them captured by all means, dead or alive, but preferably alive so I can question them. Finally, I wish you all good luck. You'll need it."

Domyouji felt that was very true, and crossed his fingers. The police were confident, but there were so many variables in this - he just hoped that it would go well.

He hoped to see Tsukushi very soon, to be able to hold her in his arms once more.

* * *

"Damnit," said Gin, punching the keyboard of his laptop. He was checking the balance of his foreign bank account, and it had not increased by a cent. "That kid still hasn't deposited any money in!" 

"I think I know why," said one of his four accomplices, a bulky man called 'Vodka'. "Look out the window."

Gin rushed to the window and cursed under his breath. Being so high up from the ground offered him a good view of what was happening on the road. They had been cordoned off and police were redirecting traffic elsewhere.

"Seems like we're surrounded, boys. And girl," he added, when his one and only female accomplice, a woman codenamed 'Sherry', glared at him.

His final accomplice, 'Tequila', had turned on the television to see if there was anything about them. Sure enough, a reporter was in the middle of saying something. She was standing outside a place that looked strangely like the neighbouring apartment complex.

"_... The mission to free Miss Makino is currently underway. Police have currently not released any details yet, however-_"

Gin swore loudly.

"We've been had," he snapped dangerously. "Give me the pistol."

"What are you going to do?" said Sherry, surprised.

"I'm going to kill her!" he said, throwing the cigarette he had been smoking onto the ground and stamping on it.

"You can't kill our trump card! We're not going to get away from this if we kill her!" cried Sherry, restraining him, but to no avail. "We might be able to get away if we still have her as our hostage!"

"Get off me! I don't care! This is the punishment that stupid rich kid is going to get for not listening to my orders!" He jerked away from her, grabbed his gun and opened the door to the bedroom where Tsukushi was held.

Tsukushi's eyes widened at his wild entrance with the gun in his hand. She wanted to scream, do anything to deter him or alert the neighbours, but couldn't; her mouth was gagged.

"Mmmm!" she cried through her gags.

"You are a troublesome one," he whispered, finger on the trigger. "Goodbye."

Tsukushi squeezed her eyes shut.

_This is the end of me_, she thought. _It's been the best time of my life knowing you, Domyouji..._

_I love you._

_Goodbye..._

Suddenly, there was a very loud burst. But she felt no pain. She opened her eyes and found that the windows had shattered, and she quickly covered her face to shield herself from the shards of glass. Two men, uniformly covered from head to toe, leapt in in a display of agility despite the heavy weapons they were carrying.

_More kidnappers?_ she thought wearily. The five men did look like the kidnappers; head to toe in dark clothes - except they seemed to be decked out in all sorts of equipment that the kidnappers lacked. They were more well armed and armoured.

One of the men spotted her and quickly lifted her up over his shoulders so that she was being carried with her head dangling over his back.

"Red five has tango one," he said.

She had no idea what on earth it meant, and she had no idea who they were; but they had saved her from being shot. At the very least, she felt a slight sense of gratefulness towards these two men.

"No!" screamed Gin, lunging for her, pulling at the trigger of the pistol, but the other man shot him in the leg, thereby setting the pistol off in the wrong direction - towards the ceiling.

"Red five covered," said the other man, his eyes firmly fixed on Gin, who was now writhing in pain on the floor, blood drenching his left leg as he screamed and cursed.

Red five, whoever he was, quickly carried her out the bedroom and through the living room - which she had never been into before - and she found five men, also dressed like the first two, had surrounded the last three accomplices. Three other men were scouring the other rooms of the apartment, searching for any more criminals that may have hidden.

Without so much as a glance towards the other men, red five ran out the front door of the apartment into a deserted corridor, where a lift was already waiting for them. Controlled from the guard's room on the ground level, the lift automatically shut its doors and went down. Once the doors had safely shut, the man put her onto the floor, where he undid the ropes binding her and pulled the gag off her mouth. She finally understood who they were - seeing the logo embroidered on his uniform, she realised that he was, in fact, a policeman.

Tsukushi felt the sensation returning to her limbs, which she hadn't exercised much for the past two days. She stretched herself and jumped up and down in relief. She almost felt like dancing.

"Thank you so much for saving my life," she croaked hoarsely. She hadn't had much to drink lately, nor had she spoken at all except for the times she had to confirm that she was still alive to Domyouji.

The man didn't even look at her or even act as if he had heard her.

Tsukushi shrugged the snubbing off. They had reached ground floor, and the doors to the lift opened. The first thing she saw was the thing she wanted to see most during these horrible two days.

"Domyouji!" she cried, running straight out of the lift and into his waiting arms. She felt the emotion well up inside her and burst into tears.

"Makino! You're okay! Did they hurt you?" said Domyouji, relief flooding all over him. When one of the counter terrorist policemen had confirmed that he had gotten hold of Tsukushi, he had run out of the police bus and into the lobby to wait for her, despite police orders because it was still dangerous Her small form in his arms did every bit to attest to the fact that she was truly alive and well. He ruffled her hair gently and pulled himself even closer to her in a protective manner.

"Not so much as Eitoku did," she said. "Remember what I said? They didn't hurt me as much as the great bullying octopus head did."

Domyouji laughed. He knew _exactly_ who she was referring to.

"But..." she whispered. "I thought I was going to die. He.. he pulled out a gun, and if the police didn't come in at that moment, I would have died..." Tsukushi looked around for the policeman who had rescued her, but he had disappeared once the mission had been completed.

"I'm ... I'm... " Domyouji wanted to apologise, but somehow, he had never been quite able to say the word 'sorry' properly.

"That's okay," said Tsukushi, reading his mind, placing her finger on his lips. "I understand. I'm not mad at you - for now."

Domyouji simply held her even more tightly. He needed no words to express his feelings. He pulled closer to her, and as his lips were about to meet hers...

"Excuse me, Miss Makino?" said a paramedic, popping up in between them and ruining their romantically tender moment in the most anticlimactic fashion possible.

Tsukushi quickly lurched away, face beet red with embarrassment. Domyouji's face went through all the shades of a glorious sunset. They had totally forgotten the police presence and had not noticed the media, which was finally allowed to come closer to the building and had as close to them as the police barricades allowed. There were many sudden flashes of light from photographers trying to get some shots of their kiss.

"Um, um, what!" stammered Tsukushi quickly, to no one in particular. "I was just making sure that he had no food stuck on his lips! Yeah! That's right!"

"You are to come to the hospital for a check up," said the paramedic, pretending that he hadn't noticed that they were about to kiss. "We want to make sure that you and your baby are alright and that you've suffered no trauma, and if you did, to be able to receive adequate treatment."

"Um... okay," she said uncertainly, following the paramedic.

"Don't worry," said Domyouji, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "I'll come with you."

He didn't let go of her hand as they made their way to the ambulance which was parked within the police barricades. As they stepped outside the building, more flashbulbs went off. Tsukushi climbed into the ambulance with Domyouji following her. As the paramedic was about to close the door, she caught a glimpse of her four kidnappers being escorted out the front lobby by nine counter-terrorism officers. She was finally able to get a glimpse of their face, which she had not seen during her time as their hostage because they had covered it with balaclavas. Their appearance diverted all media towards them instead.

Once Tsukushi was safely on the stretcher, and Domyouji seated on the other, the ambulance started up and made its way towards the nearest hospital.

"What am I supposed to do there?" she asked the paramedic that was tending to her.

"The usual - assessing if you've suffered any psychological trauma, tests to make sure you're okay, and that your baby's okay; you know, no miscarriages or anything. Shock usually causes miscarriages."

"Oh right," said Tsukushi. "WHAT! MY BABY?"

She nearly forgot that she was supposed to be 'carrying' a baby from all the excitement of the past few days. From the look on Domyouji's face, it seemed as if he had forgotten too.

"No! I don't want a check-up!" wailed Tsukushi, wriggling and struggling against the bounds of the stretcher.

"Please, Miss Makino! Don't struggle!" said the paramedic, looking rather frightened.

Tsukushi had to find a way to get away from the check up. There was no way on earth she was going to pass it.

* * *

Next Chapter: The hospital check-up - will disaster strike? Well, obviously, or else I'll run out of things to write about! 

This little episode finally ends! Drama isn't really my thing - especially hostage dramas. I think I'll stick with humour. So it's back to our regular, funny updates :)

* * *

Tango one just means target one. Fancy police jargon. 

Originally, I was going to make the codenames of the baddies Domo-kun, Hello Kitty, Kero-chan, Pen-pen, Calcifer, and other cute non-human characters. But then, they wouldn't sound evil enough... :(


	12. The check up

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter, because it was certainly very fun to write about! Ho hum, as far as I know, jargon means the language of a particular cultural subgroup eg. the medical profession would have medical jargon etc.. But I could be wrong :P

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except the plot. :)

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter 12: The check up

* * *

Because of Tsukushi's high profile involvement with Domyouji, she had been given a private room at the hospital to avoid any unwanted attention from the media or her fellow patients. Just as she was about to get some rest from all the excitement of the past few days, her friends rushed into her room. 

"Tsukushi!" cried Yuki, looking as if she was about to burst into tears. It was taking her some effort to hold down her swelling emotions. "You're okay! I was so worried!"

She dropped the flowers she was holding and flung herself onto Tsukushi, and there she started sobbing. Tsukushi felt rather guilty to have made Yuki worry so much about her - all over one stupid little lie that caused such a catastrophe.

"Don't cry, Yuki! I'm okay!" said Tsukushi, stroking Yuki's hair.

Yuki forced a smile and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her sleeve. "I'm glad you're okay... how about your baby?"

The room fell silent as Tsukushi looked around for an answer. Shigeru, Sakurako and Kazuya were looking at her expectantly as the F4 quickly averted their glances from each other. Tsukushi looked quickly at them in the hope that they'd change the topic of conversation, but the F4 pretended they neither heard nor saw her.

"Um... the baby's ... happily bouncing in my tummy," Tsukushi offered lamely.

"Not much of a tummy you got there!" grinned Shigeru happily, slapping Tsukushi on the back.

"Well, uh, I did starve a bit over the last few days..." muttered Tsukushi. She prayed that something would offer itself as a distraction before anyone realised the truth of Shigeru's words, and her prayers were answered in the form of her parents making an uncharacteristic appearance during times of trouble.

"... The nurse already said it was room 4!" said Mama in an embarrassingly loud voice outside the door of her room. "Susumu! Will you stop checking out the young female patients!"

"Whatever," muttered Susumu sulkily. "I don't really get to see such beautifully formed women all the time, I mean, just look at Sister, she's so _flat_, like a piece of cardboard..."

"Oh, I certainly hope _Master_ Domyouji is here, looking after our _darling_ Tsukushi. Wouldn't it be so sweet to see him spoon feeding her gently, wiping morsels off her lips in a delicate manner?" sighed Mama romantically, cutting into Susumu's mournful monologue. "Don't tell her that that was the reason I brought some soup along, though - it's not really to give her comfort food in hospital, but to let Domyouji feed her tenderly. I'm Cupid, the messenger of love, and I know how to tweak circumstances a little in favour of a warm and fluffy feeling!"

"Mama, that is so stupid!" said Susumu.

The door opened, revealing Mama, Papa and Susumu. They seemed oblivious to the crowd around Tsukushi's bedside and even to Tsukushi herself, and had continued their argument. Tsukushi blushed. She was sure that Soujiro's mother, Akira's mother, and even Domyouji's mother would never be so blatantly embarrassing.

"Hi Mama, hi Papa, hi Susumu," said Tsukushi flatly, wishing that her prayers were not answered in such a way.

"Oh, Tsukushi! We saw you on TV and we were so worried!" cried Papa, finally noticing that they were, indeed, in Tsukushi's room. They looked surprised to see so many people by Tsukushi's bedside.

"I'm sure you were," said Tsukushi, rolling her eyes. She hoped that they would leave soon before they said any more embarrassing things. But before they did so, Domyouji quickly took the opportunity to greet and inflate the egos of his 'future in laws', thereby stalling their exit further.

"Hello, _father_, hello, _mother_," said Domyouji in his most polite voice. "Oh! And my dear _brother_ too!"

"Hi _brother_ Domyouji!" Susumu seemed pleased to be related to Domyouji. He was positively beaming.

"How have you been, my darling _brother_ Su...Su...Sumomo?" said Domyouji, who had, frankly, forgotten Susumu's name. Susumu's radiant smile faltered.

"Don't call them like that!" cried Tsukushi, aghast. "You're not my husband, and you have no right to be on such intimate terms with them!"

"Yes he does, because he will be soon!" cried Mama, quickly slamming Tsukushi's mouth shut with her soup flask. "Do excuse her manners, she's often so impolite in front of _important guests_!"

"What important guests?" said Papa dully; he hadn't quite caught Mama's drift yet. Mama wriggled her eyebrows purposefully towards Nishikaido, Mimasaka and Shigeru. Mama and Papa's eyes lit up instantly.

"Would that be the son of Mimasaka Trading Company, the heir of the sixteenth generation to inherit the Nishikaido tea ceremony art, and the young miss of the Ookawahara group?" whispered Mama ferverently to Papa.

"I think so," Papa whispered back. "Our lovely daughter sure knows how to handpick her friends, doesn't she?"

Tsukushi could almost see dollar signs appear on their eyes and the sound of _ka-ching, ka-ching _erupting from their ears. If polygamy were legal, Mama would have made sure that Tsukushi married not just Domyouji, but Hanazawa Rui, Akira, Soujiro _and_ Shigeru.

With a premonition that their presence here would hinder Tsukushi's courtship and bring about its demise, Mama made a decision that Tsukushi was very grateful for.

"Oh, isn't it rather late now, Papa?" said Mama pointedly.

"What? No, it's not, it's only one in the afternoon," said Papa, checking his watch. "The horse races - I mean, the soap operas - don't start until two!"

"Yes, it is late," said Mama heatedly. "I have soup on the stove in the kitchen, I can't let it burn! Let's go, Susumu."

"But I haven't even talked properly with brother Domyouji yet," whined Susumu. "And you don't have soup on the stove, all we had on the stove was an empty pot..."

"I SAID, WE'RE GOING!" screamed Mama, making Tsukushi cringe and cover her ears from the noise and the embarrassment. Her face quickly changed to one of utter sweetness when she turned to Domyouji. "Oh, Master Domyouji, I have some soup to revitalise Tsukushi. It's good for her health, but I'm sure her hands hurt so much from her time as a hostage, so I think it'll be better if you fed her."

She handed him a spoon and the soup flask and looked at him expectantly.

"But, Mama, my hands are fine," insisted Tsukushi, "It's not as if being a hostage hurt my hands."

"I SAID, YOUR HANDS ARE HURT!" screamed Mama.

"Will do, _mother_," said Domyouji so sweetly that Tsukushi felt a toothache. Mama seemed very pleased by it.

Finally Mama, Papa and Susumu took their leave, saying goodbyes to her friends, but especially to the F4 and Shigeru. Once again, Tsukushi was left alone with her friends in the silence on the wake of their exit. Her friends were simply lost for words.

"Very, uh, interesting family you have there, Makino," said Akira, blinking.

"Don't push yourself," sighed Tsukushi.

The nurse arrived and insisted that the visitors clear out for Tsukushi's check up. At first, Tsukushi was delighted because she was rather tired and wanted some shut eye, but then she realised the full implications of it.

"CHECK UP?" cried Tsukushi, as if she had not expected to have check ups while in a hospital.

"Yes, dear," said the nurse patiently, scribbling on her notepad. "The doctor wanted to make sure you were okay and that you didn't miscarry the baby."

"No! I don't want a check up!" cried Tsukushi. "I'm pretty sure I didn't miscarry anything!"

"Why not? We only take some measurements and do take some blood samples. We also test your urine to see if you have any health problems and to make sure your baby is okay. Then we do a psychological assessment to make sure you didn't suffer mental trauma. If you wish, we may also do an ultrasound. But that, of course, will depend on the doctor's assessment of your health first."

"I... I don't want to..." said Tsukushi lamely. "I mean, I'm mentally fine and stuff, I have resistance to Jedi mind tricks!"

"Tsukushi, even if you're okay, it's for the baby's good," said Yuki gently. "You wouldn't want to lose something so precious to you and Domyouji!"

"But... I'm scared of needles," said Tsukushi, hoping that this lame excuse would work.

"But you weren't afraid back when we went to school together!" said Yuki. "You always volunteered to be first to encourage us all!"

Tsukushi had been hoping Yuki would miss this point, but being her best friend, it was kind of hard for her to forget all Tsukushi's quirks.

Thankfully, Domyouji spoke up and relieved Tsukushi of the burden of making up excuses as to why she didn't want a check up.

"She's not having a check up," snapped Domyouji to the nurse. "It's MY baby too and if I say no, I say no! Tell the doctor or whoever ordered the checkup to get lost if he doesn't want to be sued to the ends of the earth!"

Tsukushi slapped her forehead. She was hoping that Domyouji would, at the very least, come up with something better than a hollow threat. That was, by far, the lamest excuse they had put forward so far. The nurse left to complain to the doctor about how difficult the patient was being.

"I don't want some strange doctor touching _my_ Makino," declared Domyouji to no one in particular, but for the benefit of Sakurako, Shigeru, Yuki and Kazuya who had, so far, found none of the previous excuses quite valid. "Especially if he's a _male_ doctor."

"I'm sorry that I'm such a strange doctor," snapped someone. "Especially since I'm male."

It was the doctor that the nurse had summoned, and had returned with her upon her complaints about her patient and her boyfriend with a rather complicated disposition. It was, of all the doctors that could have been placed in charge of her in the hospital, Dr. Shouichiro Nishikaido. His handsome though tired face caught the eye of Sakurako, and she wasted no time in checking him out and feeding herself eye candy of older men.

"Brother!" cried Soujiro, looking surprised. Sakurako gasped at their relationship. Absolutely perfect. If she can't have the F4, may as well make do with the brother of an F4 member.

"Dr. Nishikaido!" cried Tsukushi, aghast. "What are you doing here!"

"Maybe, just maybe, this is a hospital, and that there might be doctors working here?" he said sarcastically. He still seemed to be offended at being called 'strange' by Domyouji. Sakurako sighed wistfully at his wit. "And that perhaps I might be a doctor?"

"But don't you work in a clinic?" said Akira, amazed.

"Part time. I share that clinic with another doctor - I work there for three days and she works the other two. My other two days are spent working in the hospital," said Shouichiro. "You know, when they said 'trauma patient', I didn't quite expect for it to be you, of all people."

"Tsukushi's drama has been all over the news," said Soujiro, surprised. "How could you have not expected it?"

"I don't really have the time to watch the news..." sighed Shouichiro. "If I knew it was you children, I would have begged my superior to be assigned some other patients."

This brought back painfully embarrassing memories of their last encounter and Tsukushi couldn't help but blush.

"Now, _why_ would you want to be assigned other patients?" said Sakurako sweetly, inching closer to Shouichiro who seemed totally oblivious to her advances. She was batting her eyelashes so furiously that Tsukushi was surprised that her eyelids didn't get bruised. "What _could_ Tsukushi have _possibly_ done to make you want to have another patient? There is none better than her!"

"That's a matter between the patient and I, and I choose not to divulge this information because it violates the patient privacy policy," said Shouichiro tersely, unsmiling and unflinching despite Sakurako's flirty winks at him. "And, speaking of patient privacy, may I ask all you visitors to leave while I do my rounds on Miss Makino?"

Sakurako, Shigeru, Kazuya and Yuki were making their way to the door when Sakurako noticed something odd.

"How come they don't have to go? That's so not fair," said Sakurako, pouting cutely for Shouichiro's benefit while pointing at the F3, who had remained stationary by Tsukushi's bedside. "Why can't I stay too? I'd absolutely love to learn about the fine art of check ups. Maybe you can check up on me afterwards."

"I can understand why Domyouji can stay, but how come the other three are staying?" said Shigeru.

"Because he's my brother, and I want to catch up with him," said Soujiro simply.

"Because he's a friend from my childhood, and I also want to catch up with him," said Rui.

"Because..." began Akira. "... the tip of my left pinky has been hurting lately, and I heard that Shouichiro was the greatest pinky pathologist in the world, so I wanted to consult with him while he's here because I allow only the very best doctors to check the tip of my left pinky."

_Damnit! Rui took my excuse!_ Akira cursed inwardly.

"See?" added Akira hopefully, sticking up his left pinky for them to see. "It's a little red!"

Sakurako frowned slightly at the near impossibility of his excuse, but Shigeru, with her rather wild imagination, accepted it as fact with open arms. They bade farewell, and once the F4 were sure that they had left, Domyouji took no time in his verbal tirade against Shouichiro.

"What kind of doctor are you, organising checkups for Makino!"

"A responsible one," said Shouichiro without flinching. He pushed his wire rimmed glasses back up, which had slipped down from the sheer force of Domyouji's voice.

"Why'd you do that, knowing what we are doing is fake! With all those stupid tests of yours, the truth that she's not pregnant is bound to be exposed!"

"Actually, I didn't know that my patient was Makino," he said, shrugging. "All I got told was that it was a seventeen year old girl, pregnant, suffering from malnutrition and with possible psychological trauma. All of them fitted Makino except the pregnant bit."

"But that's because you knew the truth! The paramedics didn't! That's why they reported that she was pregnant! And if you keep organising checkups for her, us six won't be the only ones to know!"

"Those checkups I ordered for her are pretty much standard procedure in this hospital. All inpatients are subjected to this, with some exceptional circumstances. Now, if I didn't order them, it'll look even more suspicious."

"Well, now that you ordered them, can't you just write up some fake notes? About how her baby is fine?" said Akira.

"Of course not, that's being dishonest and I may be subjected to an internal inquiry once they analyse my notes and find discrepancies," said Shouichiro. Tsukushi wished he wasn't so uptight. She understood why Shouichiro was called a nerd by Tsubaki; he was probably the kid that never let you copy his homework back at school.

"Then, can't you pinch us some blood supplies and urine samples so we can fake the test?" said Soujiro.

"No, because this is the hospital and not the clinic. If some patient's body fluids went missing, there'd be hell to pay because it would be akin to divulging patient data. These are kept in check by many people, and if some sample went missing, people are bound to know and find the culprit. I don't want to risk ruining my career by stealing someone's body fluids for a prank like this."

"So, we're doomed, even though we have an accomplice who could easily tweak circumstances in our favour," sighed Domyouji. "You could've helped us."

"Don't call me your accomplice, I have no wish to take part in this plan," said Shouichiro quickly. "And anyway, I have helped you enough. I gave you a urine sample before, didn't I? That's one test you will pass."

"Oh yeah!" said Tsukushi. "My urine sample!"

"Just take it out and use it. It's not hospital property so it won't yield identical results to another patient."

"Well, it was in my bag; I carry it everywhere in case I need it," said Tsukushi.

"Ew," said Rui suddenly, scrunching up his nose. "That's disgusting."

"Come to think of it, where is my bag? I hope I didn't leave it in that apartment."

"Actually, you dropped it at school," said Soujiro.

"And then Rui found it," said Akira.

"Oh good! So can I have my bag back, Hanazawa Rui?" said Tsukushi, relieved.

"And then Rui handed it in to the police for analysis when we reported you missing," continued Domyouji.

"Oh, so it's - YOU WHAT! Oh man..." sighed Tsukushi. All hope was lost.

"You could always go and get it back," snickered Shouichiro slyly. He seemed to enjoy torturing them.

"How? Don't tell me you want us to break into the police station and retrieve it," said Soujiro flatly.

"Absolutely correct. Well done, brother!" said Shouichiro, beaming. He was glad that his brother could still catch onto his dry wit.

"May as well steal one from the hospital, it's much easier," said Rui.

"No, if the missing sample matches the results of _your_ test, it'll spell then end of my career," snapped Shouichiro.

Soujiro, looking rather downcast, said, "But stealing from the police is akin to willfully getting a criminal record..."

Shouichiro took one look at his brother's face and sighed. "The things I do for you kids..."

He pulled a set of keys from his coat, and threw it to Soujiro.

"What's this?" said Soujiro, dangling the keys and eyeing them suspiciously.

"The keys to my clinic," sighed Shouichiro. "Go and get a new sample; but don't make it look as if I took it, okay? I've already divulged enough patient information. Please, make it look like a break in."

"Thank you brother!" cried Soujiro, flinging himself onto Shouichiro.

"Gah!" spluttered Shouichiro. "After this, promise me you'll be a less difficult patient, okay? And, Akira, for your information, I am not a 'pinky pathologist'. There is no such thing as a pinky pathologist. There are doctors that specialise in hands, but I'm not one of them, okay?"

Tsukushi smiled at this little scene. _I guess he has a soft spot for his little brother, after all,_ thought Tsukushi.

"So, uh," said Soujiro, unlatching himself from Shouichiro. "Who's going to do it? Who's going to break into brother's clinic?"

"Obviously Rui," said Akira, crossing his arms and nodding, his brow furrowed and his face looking serious. "If he didn't hand Makino's bag to the police, we wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble.Or maybe Tsukasa, because it's _his_ plan and about _his_ future."

Hearing this, Domyouji cracked his knuckles in a threatening manner. Rui simply blinked at them, perplexed.

* * *

"I reckon we should just seduce a nurse and get her to bring us a sample; that would be so much easier," sighed Akira. "But no, your brother was opposed to using _anything_ from the hospital to fake Makino's data, even if we were to obtain it ourselves! He's so uptight!" 

In an unfortunate set of circumstances, Akira and Soujiro ended up being the ones to break into the clinic and retrieve the urine samples. How this duty fell upon them, they did not know, but one thing they were sure about was that Domyouji and Rui never had to do any of this dirty work.

"Man," muttered Soujiro, as he strode briskly down the long hospital corridor with Akira in tow. "How come we end up having to be the ones to break into the clinic? It's all Rui's fault that he gave Tsukushi's bag to the police!"

"You know that Rui always ends up getting away with doing the embarrassing stuff," sighed Akira, keeping his pace. "It's always us two left to do the stuff that Tsukasa and Rui don't want to do. All those silly but very educational reenactments of the karma sutra that we do for Domyouji's sake - have you ever noticed that it's always us two doing it? Rui never, ever teaches Tsukasa anything."

"And he gets more attention than us in the mange, too! Him and Domouji, damnit! It's because of their stupid love triangle!" said Soujiro. "If only they had made it a love pentagon, I would've become a star too."

"Hey, I wouldn't be complaining if I were you," said Akira. "I always have to do the girl bit in the reenactments, all because my hair is longer - at least you have your manliness intact! And you even got your own arc in the manga; that long winded thing about you and your childhood love, Sara! And what do I get? A stupid one shot at the end of the mange just because Ms. Kamio couldn't fill up the last pages! I think the main reason for us to break into the clinic is not just to salvage the plan, but to give us more airtime because we never got much in the manga! To be honest, I felt like a stand in just to make the F4 complete."

"The things we give up for our dear friend Tsukasa," cried Soujiro dramatically, who was joining in Akira's monologues of self pity. "Firstly, it was airtime in the manga, and now, our dignities and possibly our clean criminal records! And what for? So that his infatuation with the most hardy of commoners, the most unfeminine of girls, the only one to resist his charms, would yield some fruit! Oh, woe is me!"

At that point, Soujiro chose to fall onto the floor on his knees, holding his hands out as if to cry out, "Why me?" in a most spectacular and exuberant fashion.

"Why... me!" cried Soujiro woefully, fists clenched, fake tears seeping his eyes.

"Excuse me, sir," snapped a nurse who had just passed by. "This is a busy hospital corridor. Could you please get out of the way? We have an emergency patient coming through soon."

"Sorry," muttered Soujiro, getting up from his dramatic act and dusting his knees.

"Let's just get this over and done with," said Akira, pulling Soujiro towards the exit of the hospital. "We have to get it before Makino is due for her checkup. Thank goodness Shouichiro postponed it."

Two handsome young men, unbeknownst to the rest of the staff and patients at the hospital on this rather normal day, were to undertake the biggest task in their mostly cosseted life; risking their dignity, their reputation and their criminal records to do so.

They to break into a clinic - and steal a sample of body fluid.

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Next Chapter: Soujiro and Akira rob a clinic! The power of friendship, to drive them to go so far for a best friend's love affair! 


	13. The break in

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter, because it was certainly very fun to write about! For most of the manga, I don't think there was much attention on Akira and Soujiro except for the Soujiro-Sara-Yuki arc and poor Akira's one shot.

PS: This is based on the manga.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except the plot. :)

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter 13: The break in

* * *

At Soujiro's insistence that if they were to be burglars, they were to be _stylish_ burglars, Akira and Soujiro went home to change and later met up outside the building in which Shouichiro's clinic was. Decked out in plain, dark (albeit designer) clothing while negating to wear accessories crucial to a burglar such as a mask or anything to hinder identification, or even a bag to carry their loot in, the two of them crept into the building and took the lift up to where the clinic was. 

"I don't know why we have to act like burglars," muttered Soujiro. "I mean, he's given us the keys, it's not as if we're breaking in..."

"Somehow, I don't get the feeling he's willingly giving us urine samples," sighed Akira. "So I guess we are kind of forcing ourselves onto him..."

Creeping along the corridor of the fifth floor, they arrived outside Shouichiro's clinic which was, as expected, securely locked.

"Now, which key is it?" muttered Soujiro, who was used to other people opening all his doors for most of his life. He looked at the huge bundle of keys that Shouichiro had thrown to him. "Can't people label them or anything?"

After trying about twenty or so keys, a gentle click was heard from the door and it opened smoothly. Soujiro reached for the light switch but was quickly stopped by Akira.

"Don't turn on the lights; if people on the outside are looking, they'd find it odd that there'd still be people in the clinic at eleven pm at night. And then, they'll call the police and we'd get caught."

The fact that Shouichiro was an overworked man and a light being on at eleven pm was quite the norm was unbeknownst to them.

"How else are we going to see!" cried Soujiro indignantly. "I'm not a commoner, I don't have night vision!"

"We should've brought a torch," sighed Akira, slapping his forehead. "They do this all the time in spy dramas! Argh, of all the things we forgot to bring!"

But it was no use blaming himself; after all, this was the first time they had attempted a break in, and their ill preparations can only be a result of their inexperience. Luckily for them, they managed to find a torch in the receptionist's desk for emergency use.

"Thank goodness brother is always prepared!" said Soujiro happily, and with a slight twinge of pride as he flicked it on. "Now, where would he keep urine samples and other body fluids?"

"His office, of course!" said Akira, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

But after ten minutes of searching through the filing cabinets and bookcases of Shouichiro's office, it was clear that the only things he kept in there were patient records, doctor's manuals and guides, paperwork and sterile medical equipment.

"You know," groaned Soujiro, flicking through the patient records as if Shouichiro would hide someone's urine sample in there, "I get the feeling it's not in this room. Woah, look, this man had breast reduction! They've got to be pretty big in the first place..."

"Don't read other people's personal stuff!" cried Akira indignantly, slamming the thin file shut. "You make me sick! I really didn't need to know that some man had breast reduction, you know. Anyway, let's stop wasting our time. If it's not in this room, it's got to be in some other room!"

Systematically, they went into the room next to Shouichiro's office. It was very much like a second clinic; like Shouichiro's office, there was a bed and sterile medical equipment, but it didn't have his desk, computer, paperwork or his patient records and doctor's encyclopedias. It was a secondary check up room of sorts which also acted as a storage room.

"Storage room ..." murmured Akira. He rummaged through an inconspicuous cupboard in the corner as Soujiro looked through some other part of the room. "I found it, Soujiro! Urine samples, and even blood samples!"

He felt around and took a little bottle of yellow liquid and a limp bag of blood into his hand. "Argh, disgusting. I really, really wonder how your brother does this. Thank goodness it's so dark, it's less freaky this way. Let's just find a suitable sample and leave."

But it was easier said than done.It was all labeled in Shouichiro's untidy scrawl, writing befitting a doctor, and to make the task of identifying if the sample belonged to a pregnant woman was made even harder by the fact that the only writing on it was medical acronyms and jargon, which neither Soujiro or Akira could understand.

"What's this letter?" muttered Soujiro, holding up a small bottle of yellow liquid to the torchlight in Akira's hand.

"I dunno; it could be a 'T' or it could be a 'J'. I wish he would write something like 'Pregnant woman's blood' on this!" said Akira. "That would save us quite a bit if trouble."

"I guess we'd just have to check each sample against his patient records," sighed Soujiro, feeling that this task was taking far too long than it should. "Why on earth does brother have to make it so much harder than it should be?"

Akira and Soujiro began picking up each and every sample, and they soon realised that it was quite a hard task without a bag of any sort. Trying to cradle an odd twenty or so bottles of urine between their arms was quite a feat. It kept dropping out, and whenever they had to pick it up, they would end up dropping more. They were about to make progress and move into the Shouichiro's office with all the bottles and bags of fluid when they heard it.

_Click._

It was the sound of a door closing - in fact, it was the sound of the front entrance door of the clinic closing. Someone had just come in.

"Did someone just come in?" whispered Akira, listening tentatively to the sounds in the darkness.

"I'd bet that the door just opened itself," said Soujiro sarcastically.

"Didn't you lock it?"

"Didn't _you?"_

"But you were the one with the keys," hissed Akira. "Now I bet _someone else _is breaking in, and they're going to rob us, which is going to be quite contradictory, seeing that we're robbing your brother! Who would have heard of a robber being robbed!"

"I don't think that the robber would sing so loudly if they're really breaking in," muttered Soujiro.

Indeed that was true. They heard some humming, and it sounded like someone was making coffee because they heard the gentle whirring of a kettle and the clinking of a spoon against a mug.

"Dr. Nishikaido, you want coffee too?" called the female voice. It was his receptionist, Maya. Then it occurred to them - she had come into the clinic late at night, possibly to finish some paperwork, and she noticed that the door was unlocked. She assumed that Shouichiro was in, and had started making coffee for both of them. Unbeknownst to her, two young men were lurking in a storeroom, trying to steal not money, but body fluids.

"Crap, do we answer her?" muttered Soujiro. "My voice is far sexier than my brother's, so I wouldn't really sound like him, even if I look like him."

He looked pointedly at Akira, as if to say that his voice sounded more like the gravelly, harsh and un-sexy tones of his brother.

"Are you saying my voice is less sexy?" snapped Akira. "For your information, my voice is not only sexy, but it's also very seductively sedative."

"Alright, alright," said Soujiro, raising his hands in defeat. "Let's just creep out while she makes her coffee. Of all the things to happen, someone just has to come into the office on the night we choose to steal from it."

Once again, they were to understand just how hard it really was to carry twenty small items without a bag, and, in their sheer desperation to get out as soon as possible, Soujiro accidentally dropped a bottle of urine on the floor so that it alerted the receptionist to the fact that there was, indeed, someone in the clinic apart from herself. Simply put, they had just placed themselves in the worst situation possible.

"Dr. Nishikaido?" called Maya tentatively for the second time. When no one answered her, she had confirmed her worst fear - some unauthorised person was trespassing here! To their despair, they heard her fumbling around the kitchen, and walking towards their direction.

"Crap," muttered Akira, succinctly summarising their current situation. "I bet she's going to do something now - I just hope she's not going to call the police or something. I've had far too much to do with the police during these past few days."

"Close the door!" whispered Soujiro hastily, and he, in turn, switched off the torch. Akira did as he was told, and now they were left cowering in the darkness. They heard the receptionist's light footsteps quickly go past the door to some room further down the corridor.

"Now, now," lamented Akira mournfully, like a man sensing impending doom, as if he were on death row. "How are we supposed to get out when we've just sealed ourselves in?"

Their eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and, much to Akira's annoyance, they found that Shouichiro had a whole pile of garbage bags folded neatly on the bottom tray of a metal trolley.

"Let's just take all of them and get Shouichiro to identify which ones are suitable for Makino," said Akira, as he and Soujiro stuffed every sample of blood and urine into the (thankfully) opaque garbage bag. Heaving it over his shoulders like Santa sack, Akira's dark outfit combined with the fact that the garbage bag had to be black made him look very much the part of a robber. They were about to make a run for it while the receptionist was in the room at the other end of the corridor when they heard her returning footsteps.

Her hasty footsteps which stopped right outside their door.

They were cornered.

Soujiro swore under his breath and Akira slapped his forehead. They could hear her heavy breathing beyond the door - she was _definitely_ planning to do something. But _when _she was going to do it, and _what _she was going to do was the big question. Soujiro had a feeling that it wasn't going to be something nice.

"If only you didn't say to close the door!" hissed Akira, feeling like a trapped animal. "We could've run out! Maybe she would'n't've noticed that we were in this room! Maybe -"

"Shh," whispered Soujiro, suddenly noticing something on the narrow patient's bed that was in the room. It was Shouichiro's doctor's coat, folded neatly at the end of the bed. "I have an idea."

Swiftly, he grabbed it and pulled it on, and went on to take a flu mask from a box that was on top of a shelf. He pulled one over his face and tossed one to Akira.

"Here," he whispered, his voice muffled by the mask. "I think you should wear one too."

_I see_, thought Akira as he pulled the mask on. _He wants us to wear it so our faces would be obscured, because..._

"You're going to try and trick her into thinking you're Shouichiro?" whispered Akira. "After all, you are brothers, and in the darkness, you two really do look quite alike, especially if you put on the doctor's coat. And if you obscure your face with the flu mask, you-"

"No," said Soujiro, pulling the mask off slightly to breath. He was grinning. The darkness shrouded his face, and only his perfect, white teeth could be seen, glistening, the moonlight from the window casting a dim light on it. Akira couldn't help but wonder how on earth Soujiro made himself look so sinisterly evil without any tools. "I have an even better plan. When she comes in, you make a break for it, okay? Leave me to deal with her. Don't worry about me, just keep going."

Soujiro wrapped the coat around him as if he was cold and then pulled the mask back over his mouth and nose. They waited a few seconds in the darkness, which felt like an eternity, when suddenly, the door flew open. There stood Maya, her legs wobbling so hard that it was a wonder how she managed to stand at all. She was clutching a baseball bat tightly, in a position that showed she was ready to knock the sense out of anyone who came near her. Why a baseball bat was inside this clinic was beyond them, for they knew Shouichiro to be a man far too into scientific journals to care for such frivolous things as sport.

"S-show yourself," she declared in a shaky voice, trying to sound firm and strong. "Or I'll -"

Soujiro's face twisted into a grin under his mask.

"Hello, little girl," he whispered in an uncharacteristically perverted and throaty voice. "Let's have some fun while the night's still young, shall we?"

He pulled open the doctor's coat in a swift movement akin to a flasher. Although he did not expose anything, the receptionist seemed to believe that she had just seen _everything_. His dark clothes, added to the fact that it was quite dark in the room, made the difference between flesh and clothing hard to tell. Add to the fact that he had just done a flasher motion, the act was quite complete.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed, dropping the bat onto the floor with a clang and bolting down the corridor to the room at the end. They heard her slam the door shut and lock it.

"Quick!" cried Soujiro, "Go!"

They ran straight out of the door and did not even wait for the lift when they were out in the lobby of the fifth floor of the complex. Down they ran, down ten flights of Rui's favourite type of stairs - emergency stairs. The sack of loot bumped gently against Akira's back, unsynchronised with the arrhythmic beating of his heart; and before they knew it, they were out in the fresh air of the night, finally in the wide, open world. At least, they were more or less out of the building and away from the psycho receptionist.

"Good grief!" said Soujiro, panting under the street lamp. "In all my life, I would never have dreamt of the day that I would have to pretend to be a flasher!"

"Hear, hear!" said Akira, clutching a stitch on the side of his abdomen. "The things we do for Tsukasa, and he's so ungrateful too! I can't believe I just became a robber and stole from your brother!"

"Let's just get away from here," wheezed Soujiro. "I bet that woman called the police or something."

Mission finally completed, Soujiro and Akira returned to the comfort of their homes.

The moral of the story? Never do things for friends.

* * *

Next Chapter: Tsukushi gets discharged from hospital! What awaits her at home? It's time for her to don the fake tummy... now, that's supposed to be simple, no? Not if I want to keep my hobby ;P 

Sorry, the next chapter might take a while because it doesn't exist right now... well, it does exist, but only the first half of the chapter does and I haven't had the time to write for quite a while now.


	14. The great escape

Author's Note: I am determined to finish this fic, even if it costs me my life! (Maybe not that extreme, but you get the idea.)

Sorry for the much slower updates, but I am getting a bit busier. I'll try my best to finish this though, because I can already see the ending in sight...

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except the plot. :)

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter Fourteen: The great escape

* * *

Returning to the hospital the very next day with their 'horde of treasures', Akira and Soujiro handed them over to Dr. Shouichiro Nishikaido to help them interpret his horrible handwriting on the labels and find a sample suitable to be used as if it were Tsukushi's. As predicted, Shouichiro was thoroughly annoyed at the fact that the two playboys had turned his clinic inside out and looted every single sample, sparing none.

"But," protested Soujiro, "We only took all of it because we couldn't read your handwriting! If we could, do you really think we would carry a few litres of _other_ people's body fluids on our back? _And _risk getting caught?"

"You could have rang me," said Shouichiro scathingly. "I was on night shift yesterday night."

If the night shift and the subsequent lack of sleep did not make him irritable enough, the fact that his tidy arrangement of patient's blood and urine samples was disrupted by two young men looting his clinic sure did. And if _that_ was not enough, he was bogged down by calls from his receptionist early this morning because there was 'a weird guy and a pervert in the clinic last night, and when I checked this morning, I found that they had stolen all your urine and blood samples!' - thus ending his beloved sleep. And if _that _wasn't enough either, Shouichiro now had the task of secretly sneaking the unused samples back in, lest he be found to have been an accomplice in the plan.

Tsukushi smirked at their argument, and couldn't help but feel a great sense of satisfaction from the fact that Soujiro and Akira, two of the masterminds _and_ supporters of this plan, were finally facing justice - in the form of getting into trouble with Soujiro's older brother. She perused the morning paper as she ate her hospital issued breakfast - and it felt satisfyingly delicious after a few days without food. This morning's headlines was as she had predicted - the capture and the upcoming trial of her captors. There was a massive amount of detail about the whole operation, and luckily for Tsukushi, no 'exclusive' interview with her.

But, hidden in the middle of the thick paper was a small column, barely worth noticing, about a robbery last night. It was very vague. All it said was that a small suburban clinic was broken into last night by two young men, one believed to be a pervert. Nothing of value was stolen, however, some patient's samples have gone missing, and that if there were any witnesses to this event, they were urged to call the police because they may be a part of a greater crime network dealing with body fluids on the black market, or that the strange pervert had stolen the samples because he had some strange fetish.

Tsukushi couldn't help but laugh at the fact that one of them was believed to be a pervert and that they may have dealings on the black market. She showed the article to the F4, much to the amusement of Domyouji and Rui who had quite a good laugh about it, but none the too pleased by Akira and Soujiro. Soujiro, in particular, did not like the fact that he was called a 'pervert' and to add salt to his wounds, he was laughed at by the very people he had sacrificed his dignity for by pretending to be a flasher.

But thanks to Akira and Soujiro's great sacrifice, and with a little help on the part of Soujiro's brother, Tsukushi was finally discharged from hospital after passing all of her medical examinations. If she thought that that was the end of all her troubles, she was quite wrong. Because of her new-found fame, firstly as the girlfriend and soon to be mother of Domyouji Tsukasa's child, and secondly as the unwitting star of a real life police drama, her discharge from hospital meant that she had to fight through a media contingent to leave, and fight through a second media contingent gathered outside the Domyouji estate in order to get in.

But finally, after battling two different hordes of media, she stood triumphant on the grand steps of the Domyouji mansion, feeling satisfied with her win, even if she and the limousine were slightly battered from the sortie. It was good to be home.

_Wait. Did I just call this place home? _

_Am I so certain of my marriage to Domyouji that I can start calling this place home!_

_What's wrong with you, Tsukushi! _

"What's wrong, Makino?" asked Domyouji, looking quizzically at her as she started punching and kicking the unseen demons around her. Snapping back to reality, Tsukushi took one glance at him and couldn't help but flush up and scream. Somehow, Domyouji's head had just turned into a ten thousand yen bill and the handsome features of his face had turned into coins of varying value.

Domyouji's brow twitched dangerously as he said, "Don't point and scream at me. It's very rude."

"Don't you start teaching me about manners!" said Tsukushi, brought back to reality by Domyouji's deliciously dangerous look. "Take a good look at yourself first!"

Blushing very hard, Tsukushi charged into the foyer of his mansion and walked right into Tsubaki, who had been waiting for her to arrive.

"TSUKUSHI!" she cried, binding her in a tight and unbreakable hug. "You're okay!"

"Gnnnn!" came Tsukushi's muffled reply from the depths of Tsubaki's stranglehold.

"My, my! You look positively anorexic!" cried Tsubaki, holding her at arm's length and inspecting Tsukushi's withered figure.

"I -" began Tsukushi, but Tsubaki cut in again.

"You need more food," said Tsubaki, diagnosing her apparent thinness from starvation. "And rest. You need time away from this whole mess to gain back some weight. You're going to need the padding during labour."

She smiled at Tsukushi as if she were speaking from experience.

"Well, sister, I-" said Tsukushi, but was once again intercepted by Tsubaki. It was as if Tsukushi's absence had pent up so many of Tsubaki's thoughts that she was now letting them out as a verbal flood that did not allow Tsukushi to speak.

"Don't worry about it," Tsubaki assured Tsukushi, as if Tsukushi had been worrying at all. "I already called Eitoku and submitted your leave of absence. All you need to do is spend some time around here and recuperate! The chef has orders to serve you rich, hearty and fattening foods, and I've hired a nurse to be on call in case some complications arise. "

Tsukushi felt grateful for Tsubaki's inspired move to get her away from the hordes of Eitoku for a few days. Having just fought through the media contingent, she realised how very unprepared she was to face the questions of the Eitoku groupies, who, to her, were by far the greater of two evils. And, despite her strong exterior, even a tough weed like her needed a break every now and then.

To her dismay, however, Domyouji had also applied to go absent on the very days that she was to be absent. Tsukushi didn't want him to disturb his education on her account because, frankly, he needed all the education he could get. Surely she enjoyed his company, but to every minute with him, without break, in his vast and unwelcoming home was far too daunting. He had meant well to spend the next few days with her, but she really desired to have a few days of rest, some time alone to reflect on the past few days.

Tsukushi spent part of her days in Domyouji's watchful company, and the other part avoiding him. She did this mostly by wandering around the complex interior of the Domyouji mansion. She had always wanted to explored the inside of the residence of the richest family in Japan, but never quite had that chance whenever she had been here - she had been prevented for vary reasons such as trying to escaping from various Domyouji family members, or being on duty as a maid.

It was when she was wandering around some unused part of the Domyouji home (though exquisitely furnished, the furniture was covered with plain white clothes to prevent dust gathering on it) when she got the call.

"Makino!" cried Akira's uncharacteristically agitated voice over the phone.

"Hi, Mimasaka," said Tsukushi, not sure of what to make of it. Akira, unlike Soujiro, was not quite a drama queen, though he was still a rather good actor.

"I have bad news," he said, pausing so that Tsukushi could ask him what the bad news was.

"What's wrong?" she replied, as he had hoped she would do.

"Well, my mother is returning from Europe today. I just got a call from her. She said she had wanted to surprise me."

"So...?" continued Makino, not quite sure why Akira thought she would be interested at all.

"Remember what you left at my place?" hinted Akira.

Tsukushi thought for a moment and then realised the horrible truth.

"MY TUMMY!" she shouted, blasting Akira's eardrums with the sheer volume of her voice.

"Yes... yes..." winced Akira. "Can you come over?"

"When?"

"Perhaps right now? She's landed at the airport, but is, thankfully, clogged up at customs. But you still need to hurry. See you here."

Tsukushi hung up, and immediately bounded down the vast corridors of the Domyouji mansion that she had become so familiar with in recent times. She ran into foyer and looked around for a tall, curly head.

"Domyouji! Domyouji!" she called desperately, hoping that he hadn't gotten sick of trying to look for her every time she hid from him.

"Where were you?" Domyouji's scowling face popped out of nowhere. He sounded flustered and frustrated. Clearly, he had been looking for her.

Upon seeing his red and angry face, Tsukushi momentarily forgot her urgent quest. She stifled a laugh. It was too funny - the sight of a tomato with curly hair!

"Were you looking for me?" she giggled.

"No," lied Domyouji, in a manner that plainly meant yes. "Who said I walked all over the east and west wing looking for you?"

"So you did!" snorted Tsukushi.

"NO, I DIDN'T!" snapped Domyouji.

As she was about to press this matter further, she suddenly recalled why she was looking for him so urgently.

"WE GOTTA GO TO MIMASAKA'S PLACE!" declared Tsukushi, albeit a bit too loudly.

"Why?" said Domyouji coolly, his eyes narrowing slightly. The thought of the girl he loved most declaring most adamantly to go to another guy's place was a bit suspicious. Quite frankly, he did not like this. He was a man who easily became jealous.

"Because -my stomach -Mimasaka's mum - Europe...!" said Tsukushi in a non coherent manner, grabbing Domyouji's sleeves and trying to pull him out towards the door.

"Calm down, woman!" said Domyouji, grabbing her by the shoulders and getting her to stop to tell him everything. "So you have to go to Akira's place because your stomach and his mother want to go to Europe together?"

"No, idiot!" cried Tsukushi, wishing that Domyouji had a greater ability to put together pieces of information into something more obvious. "His mum - she's coming back from Europe - and she's going to discover my fake tummy standing in her little cottage!"

"Oh," said Domyouji, a look of enlightenment dawning upon his face. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure. Let's go."

Tsukushi loved how he could be so calm and collected in such a dire situation. He really was a boy and a man at the same time - desperately looking for her and denying that he did, as if he would lose his pride that way, yet calmly tackling this disaster head on.

He took her by the hand and was about to lead her out the door when Tsubaki suddenly bounded from the corridor of the east wing and cried out, "Don't go!"

"Why!" said Tsukushi, puzzled and, suddenly, a bit afraid. _Did Tsubaki just hear everything we said?_

"There's a whole mob of paparazzi hanging around outside," sighed Tsubaki, sounding rather annoyed. She folded her arms across her chest. "You're going to have to fight your way through them if you want to get out."

"But I have to! It's urgent!" said Tsukushi. "But..."

_If there are paparazzi outside ... then they will definitely follow me to Akira's home. And if they do, they just might discover my secret,_ thought Tsukushi. She felt as though she was being further cornered.

"What's so urgent that you have to leave the house even while you're recovering?" said Tsubaki, a look of concern on her face. Tsukushi felt some relief flood over her for the first time during this whole mess. At least Tsubaki didn't hear what they said.

"I..." began Tsukushi. She really hadn't thought of a good story for this one.

"She has a bedwetting problem," smirked Domyouji.

"WHAT!" cried Tsukushi, aghast. _How on earth did Domyouji ever think that one up? How on earth do the F4 always think of the most stupid of stories to explain things?_

"We have to take her to the bedwetting research clinic because she's due for a checkup," said Domyouji, his face looking very serious indeed. "Lately, she's stopped, but all that recent stress has caused her to have a relapse in this condition."

Tsukushi couldn't believe how very truthful he sounded, how very informed he sounded, and how little of the vocabulary he got wrong for once.

"How did you cook this one up?" whispered Tsukushi in the angriest tone possible. She did not want to be thought of as a betwetter at her age.

"I watched this on some documentary they had," Domyouji sniggered back as quietly as possible.

"Oh, Tsukushi, Tsukushi," whispered Tsubaki fondly, giving her a rather sympathetic look. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would've helped you with everything I can!"

Tsukushi couldn't believe how Tsubaki, a very intelligent woman, would believe this load of bull her brother was dishing out.

"We can't have the media finding out, can we?" said Tsubaki thoughtfully. "If you go out the front gate, they'll follow you for sure! And if they find out you have a betwetting problem - oh, that'll be the end of your reputation and the reputation of the Domyouji family! Oh, the media will have a field day!"

"So I can't go at all?" cried Tsukushi desperately.

"Yes... yes. We can, actually," said Tsubaki, her brows furrowed in thought. She traced her fingers in the air, as if drawing up a blueprint. "I have a plan."

"A plan?" said Tsukushi, surprised at how quickly Tsubaki managed to cook something up. She seemed very excited about this. Too excited, in fact. It looked as though Tsubaki was going to have fun.

"Yes," smiled Tsubaki, her pretty eyes sparkling with excitement. "I wasn't Miss Teen of Japan for nothing, you know. Ooh, I haven't had this much fun since.. a while ago! Tsukushi, give me your uniform!"

"It's in my room," said Tsukushi, looking very puzzled. She tried to figure out why on earth Tsubaki would need her uniform.

"Tsukasa," ordered Tsubaki. "Get me a blueprint of the house and a marker, now!"

"Yes, ma'am," said Domyouji sarcastically. The two of them left to fulfill the tasks that Tsubaki had set for them, and upon coming back to the foyer, they found Tsubaki holding a maid's uniform in her arms, which she thrust into Tsukushi's arms.

"Okay, troops," she declared in a militaristic fashion. "Here's the plan."

She pulled the blueprint that Domyouji had returned with and started drawing on it with the marker.

"The media contingent is here," she said, circling a large area around the front of the house. She drew arrows here and there. "Obviously, they are after Tsukushi. They will be drawn away from the front of the house by a Tsukushi decoy who will be dressed in her trademark uniform. Preferably, she will go with Tsukasa, so it will look more genuine. After that, with a stagger of around five minutes, the real Tsukushi will leave and make her way to the bedwetting clinic, disguised in a maid's uniform. Brilliant and simple, no?"

"It's good!" said Tsukushi, feeling relieved that someone among them was such a genius. Tsubaki really should have become a tactician in the army.

"Yeah," snorted Domyouji, "And who's going to be the Tsukushi decoy? There's no one here who looks as skinny and as commoner as her!"

"I will," said Tsubaki.

"What?" chorused Domyouji and Tsukushi, not sure they heard quite correctly.

"I WILL." snapped Tsubaki, whacking Domyouji on the head for not listening properly the first time around. "Give me your uniform, Tsukushi."

Tsukushi handed it over and said, most truthfully, "But you don't look like me at all, sister..."

"Doesn't matter," smiled Tsubaki. "It's hard to notice the difference from far away, and especially if we're inside a car with slightly tinted windows. Anyway, I've always wanted to do this - reminds me of the time when mother was monitoring my movements back in high school. I used to disguise myself so I can leave the house without many people noticing. Of course, I had help from Tama..."

She sighed wistfully. _Trust Tsubaki to find being spied upon exciting,_ thought Tsukushi.

"Anyway, let's get changed," said Tsubaki. "See you here in five minutes."

Tsukushi put on the familiar maid's uniform, and felt rather nostalgic as she made her way back to the foyer. _I, too, have once served this house..._

However, her trip down memory lane was shattered when she noticed Tsubaki standing there, in her own uniform.

"How do I look?" said Tsubaki, giving a little pose. "Just like Tsukushi, eh?"

She understood why Domyouji was stifling a laugh. His face was all red from just trying to hold it in. Tsukushi really wanted to tell Tsubaki the truth that she looked absolutely NOTHING like Tsukushi, but found speaking too hard. She, too, was trying not to laugh.

The difference between Tsubaki's and her figure was plainly obvious. Whereas the shirt hung loosely on Tsukushi's flat form, it was now stretched a bit too tightly against Tsubaki's ample bosom. The shirt also hung too far up her torso to be tucked in, and it threatened to show off Tsubaki's belly button every time she stretched. The skirt, too, was too short, and showed far too much of Tsubaki's long and slender legs to be deemed modest. And the blazer - Tsubaki hadn't bothered with the blazer since she couldn't fit into it at all. Tsubaki could not fit her feet into Tsukuhi's plain school shoes either, and thus, had opted to wear expensive designer stilettos instead.

All in all, she looked more like a glamourous actress playing the role of a high school student more than someone trying to look as much like Tsukushi as possible

"You... uh, look fine," lied Tsukushi.

"This idiot here lied to me and said I looked nothing like you," scowled Tsubaki. Tsukushi noticed a raw slap mark on the side of Domyouji's face. "Tsukasa, let's go. You can leave once the coast is clear. Go on foot like a real maid, because if you go in a limousine, anyone left here will realise you are someone important. Just go upstairs and observe from the balcony there for now. Make sure they're all gone before you leave, okay?"

She pulled him by the collar and lead him out of the house.

"I'll catch up with you later, okay?" Domyouji called out.

Tsukushi made her way to a balcony facing the front of the house on the second floor, where she found Tama already there with a pair of binoculars. It was plainly obvious that Tsubaki, a true tactician, had commanded that she take up that position.

"The things the young miss and young master will do for you," said Tama, her eyes still fixed into the binoculars. "They will do anything to protect you."

"Yeah," sighed Tsukushi, leaning on the railings. She felt very bad for having to lie to Tsubaki and Tama, and even cause Tsubaki to run around Tokyo dressed in a way unbefitting of her.

"But it's all thanks to you that the household seems to be normal again," said Tama. "Look at you. You've made the young master happy. And the young miss too - she looks like she's having fun. This is the first time I've seen her sound so excited since her high school days. Anyway, looks like the coast is clear. You'd better get going now before they realise that Tsubaki isn't you."

Tsukushi made her way out of the house and walked briskly in the direction of Akira's home. Without a car, however, she realised how very far it was. She sat down in the middle of a bustling shopping district, her legs tired and aching, her mouth dry from the lack of water when she most gratefully received Domyouji's call.

"Where are you?" he said, his voice sounding annoyed again, as if he had been driving around looking for her.

"I'm near-" Tsukushi said, looking around for a distinct landmark near her. "- the fountain of the giant pigeon. Are you coming?"

"Yes. Don't go - stay there and wait for me."

True to his word, he arrived a few minutes later and picked her up, for which Tsukushi was most thankful for.

"Where's Tsubaki?" said Tsukushi, looking around. She realised this was not the limousine that Tsubaki and Domyouji had escaped earlier in.

"Oh, turns out sister really had a plan," shrugged Domyouji. "We went to one of the Domyouji skyscrapers that we owned and changed cars in the underground parking. Turns out she hid a car there already, and so I escaped distinctly. The media is hounding her outside, but they're being pushed back by the Domyouji security forces."

"You mean you escaped _discretely_, right?" teased Tsukushi.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

They finally arrived at Akira's home, where they found him outside, looking rather agitated.

"What took you so long!" he demanded, looking very anxious. "She's already in a car on her way back!"

"Sorry. Got held up because I'm so handsome," said Domyouji, flinging his head back. "The media couldn't get enough of me."

"Whatever," said Akira, rolling his eyes. "Follow me. This way, please."

He lead them around the vast gardens full of blooming roses towards the homely cottage tucked way in a corner at the end of a long and winding path. He took out a key and unlocked it.

"You guys go in first," he said. "I'll hold mother off when she gets here."

A feeling of deja vu came over Tsukushi.

"This isn't another sneaky plan of yours, is it?"

"No. Not this time," sighed Akira. "It's for real. Soujiro isn't here, anyway."

He left them as he rushed back off outside to hold off his mother's advance. Tsukushi walked into the dim room, trying to find where her tummy had been hidden.

"Here it is," said Domyouji, carrying a large parcel back towards her. It was still sealed inside the box they had originally purchased it in. He pulled it out.

"Try it on."

"Right now?" said Tsukushi. "I have to take my clothes off to put it on."

"Then take them off," he snickered.

"Get out!" said Tsukushi, blushing. She rushed off towards the bathroom, pulled off her maid's clothes and put them back on. Unfortunately for her, the maid's clothes had their buttons placed most inconveniently down her back so that she could not do them back up after she was able to undo them. She walked out of the bathroom, and advanced backwards towards Domyouji.

"Help me do these buttons up!" she said. "Quickly!"

He hastily buttoned it up for her, but once he had reached the top button, he did not let go. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, and leant his head on her shoulder.

"You look like a goddess," he whispered into her ear. She could feel his warm breath tickling the tips of her ears. "If only that was a real baby in there. We could be starting a family."

Tsukushi couldn't help but blush. The silence was getting awkward. Domyouji did not seem like he wanted to be letting go any time soon. But thankfully, the heavy atmosphere was suddenly broken by voices getting louder and louder.

"You can't go in there, Mother!" cried Akira, his voice travelling very loudly over the garden, obviously trying to hint to them their impending approach.

"Why not, dear?" cried Akira's mother melodically, her sweet voice oozing across the heavy atmosphere so that it got even more stickier and sweeter. "I just want to put my parcels down. I got this absolutely darling little vase from Spain! It will look absolutely perfect in my cottage, I've been dying to see how it'll look inside! Don't worry, dear, I also got you a little present. You won't miss out, just let me put this down first!"

"No, mother, it's just that-" began Akira, but it was too late. Akira's mother had already opened the door to find Domyouji and Tsukushi locked in a very intimate embrace.

"Oh," she gasped. "I'm so sorry!"

She quickly backed out to leave the two of them alone in their own little world, but Tsukushi pulled away from Domyouji, blushing, and said, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Mimasaka! I don't mean to stop you from entering your own cottage!"

"Oh, don't be silly, dear," she said. "Romance is best served during youth! Keep going, I promise I won't disturb you any more. I'll just set down my vase and go give Emu and Memu a bath."

She quickly bustled around, trying to get everything done, but Tsukushi was adamant. "No, don't worry about us! We're finished, I promise!"

Akira's mother smiled sweetly at Tsukushi and tried to reassure her that it was fine to be romantic.

"You don't need to be so embarrassed, dear," she said, eyeing Tsukushi's tummy. "I had my first baby at your age as well. And look at how tall and handsome he is today! As I've always said to my beloved, it's best to have 'em young."

If she was trying to ease Tsukushi's embarrassment, it wasn't working. It was making her feel more and more self conscious of the small baby bump tucked under her clothes. Akira's mother seemed to be aware of that, and tried to reassure Tsukushi that romance and babies before twenty was a good choice. When Tsukushi seemed to look more and more embarrassed, Akira's mother decided that her embarrassment was a result of something else unrelated to the age at which she was to have babies.

"Don't worry about differences in social class," she said, smiling. "Akira's first time was with his maid as well. Mind you, he was much younger as well."

"What! How did you know, Mother?" cried Akira, looking very embarrassed.

"Oh, I know everything," she giggled.

Tsukushi felt like toppling over in sheer mortification. Akira's mother, in the end, did not seem to understand that her embarrassment did not stem from pregnancy at such a young age. It was, rather, from being caught in such an intimate embrace and being mistaken for being pregnant at all. And to top it all off, she was absolutely bowled over for being mistaken as being a maid caught fornicating with her employer.

* * *

Thankful that, despite all the strange happenings she had to go through today, that her secret was not leaked any further, Tsukushi and Domyouji made their way back to the Domyouji mansion. Drunk with bliss at the success of their little escapade, they made their way up the stairs and through the grand front doors of the mansion. However, Tsukushi found that her bliss was soon to be shattered.

"I do not expect for my daughter, the heiress to Domyouji Media, to run around Tokyo, masquerading as a high school student in a uniform far too small for her," snapped a coldly familiar voice. "You are a daughter of the Domyouji family, Tsubaki. I expect more refinement from you. I am absolutely disappointed to see my daughter to running around looking like some girl working in a schoolgirl fetish club."

They found Tsubaki standing in the foyer, still in Tsukushi's uniform, looking defiantly back at none other than Domyouji Kaede.

"And, what do I have here? A rowdy commoner," she said, staring piercingly through Tsukushi. "Is she the source of all that unruly influence on you?"

"No," snapped Tsubaki. "As a matter of fact, I got my sense of adventure from the time you started restricting my movements back in high school, when you wanted me to stop seeing Jun. In fact, this is just a revival of one of those plans I devised from high school. Don't you dare blame Tsukushi for that."

"Don't you dare talk back to me, your mother," said Kaede. "I will not condone such behaviour. As for you, tramp, you are to leave my house immediately."

With Kaede back, it wasn't as if Tsukushi wanted to stay anyway. She wanted to leave just as much as Kaede wanted her to.

"No," said Tsubaki. "You can't ask her to leave. She's carrying the next Domyouji heir."

* * *

Next Chapter: The evil Domyouji Kaede steps into the scene! Will she set her evil plans for world domination into motion? Is she going to kick Tsukushi out of the house? Will she find out the truth?

Find out next chapter! (Haha!)


	15. Preemptive strike

Author's Note: Only a few more chapters before the end of the story :O Finally I finish this damn thing... hopefully under one year. This will be the first fanfic I ever complete then!

Minor editting again because I've noticed I made some boo boos. Oh dear.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except the plot. :)

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter Fifteen: Pre-emptive strike

* * *

"Is that so?" said Kaede, nonplussed. She did not look surprised. It was as if she knew about this anyway. 

"Yes," stated Tsubaki staunchly, crossing her arms in a rather defiant way. "Kicking her out of the house will be akin to kicking a Domyouji family member out!"

"No, it's okay, sister..." muttered Tsukushi weakly. Kaede's presence was very intimidating, and it simply made Tsukushi feel very small. All the adrenaline from today's 'mission' had been drained from her. "I'll leave. It's not like I really want to stay here with your mother around..."

"Stay, Tsukushi," said Tsubaki gently. "I'll handle this. Just go to your room. Tsukasa, take her there."

"C'mon," snapped Domouji tersely. He grabbed Tsukushi's hand and, before leaving, turned and gave his mother a scathing look. "You're not making her leave. If she's leaving, so am I."

Once she was inside her room, Tsukushi felt a little calmer. It was Kaede's presence that was so daunting, so frightening. She was like a nightmare bottled into the slim figure of a middle aged woman.

"Are you alright, Makino?" said Domyouji, giving her a look of concern. He sat her down on her bed and held her in a comfortable position.

"I'm fine," lied Tsukushi. "To be honest, I don't want to stay here at all."

"No, I want you to stay," said Domyouji, grasping her hand, as if his word was the be all and end all.

"You know, with her SPs around, she'll find out the truth sooner or later," sighed Tsukushi, patting her (fake) stomach.

"It's actually safer here," reassured Domyouji. "If you left immediately, that would be more suspicious."

Tsukushi smiled faintly back at Domyouji, which in turn made he flustered. Kaede's sudden arrival back in Japan shocked her. She hadn't expected her to be here so soon. Knowing her, she would most definitely increase surveillance around Tsukushi, and her secret would soon be divulged.

But, wasn't the whole point of the plan to get Kaede to approve of their relationship, even if it were by such sneaky means? Wasn't this why she had been pretending to be pregnant all along?

What if Kaede really did approve of their relationship? Would she have to marry Domyouji immediately? What about her future? Would she still get to attend university, as had been her dream all these years? Get a job? Be independent, and reliant on herself?

Tsukushi's worrying train of thoughts was broken by Tsubaki knocking gently on her door.

"Can I come in, Tsukushi, dear?"

Tsubaki came in and sat down next to Tsukushi.

"I've fixed up the mess for now. Tama and I managed to coerce her into letting you stay here. Tama's still lecturing Mother as we speak."

"Thanks," said Tsukushi softly. "But you don't need to go to all that trouble. I'd rather go back home."

"You're just scared of Mother, aren't you?" said Tsubaki. "I can tell. You're just like me. I was scared of her too. But you've got to overcome that fear, because you'll be related to her for the rest of your life."

Tsukushi wished Tsubaki wasn't so assured that she'd marry Domyouji, because she'd be most heartbroken if their relationship failed, or if they weren't allowed to marry.

"I think you need to get out of the house a bit. You want to get away from her, don't you? Don't worry, she's barely at home anyway," said Tsubaki reassuringly. "Oh, and your leave of absence ends today anyway. You're going back to school tomorrow."

Tsukushi felt that she'd rather face the collective horrible girls at Eitoku than to face Domyouji Kaede alone.

* * *

"Nishida. What has the investigation turned up?" 

Kaede stared coolly at her underling, leaning back on her chair as if it were a throne. Her fingers were interlocked on her desk, and she looked much like an empress receiving a report from her general.

"Your majesty," said Nishida. "I'm sorry- I mean, President. - this was what the SPs have gathered. The news that Miss Makino was pregnant happened a few months ago. Here is the report."

Kaede skimmed through it and said, "Continue."

"After the first report, Miss Makino, despite living inside the Domyouji residence, did not opt for any checkups from our own physician. Instead, the young master took her to a small suburban clinic owned by a medical practitioner called Nishikaido. The fact that the young master did not take her to see our own world class, in house physician is deemed very suspicious by my team and I."

"Nishikaido?" murmured Kaede. She had heard that name from somewhere before, but it was not in her nature to remember the details of small fry like that; unless, of course, they were as annoying as thorns on her side like that Makino tramp was.

"When we looked through the past expenditure records of the young master, we noticed a very strange entry. Usually, his spending habits are rather frivolous, but this purchase from his gold card was of an amount far below his predicted spending. When we traced this, it was found to be a costume shop. The shop owner, upon the offering of an undisclosed sum of money, told us everything. He says he remembers it clearly; four handsome young men and a young girl came in to purchase costumes for a nativity scene despite it being nowhere near Christmas. In the end, they only purchased a highly customised tummy with very detailed specifics, and left him a huge tip. When we asked how much the tip was, it was of an amount no commoner could ever afford."

"Continue," stated Kaede.

"A week ago, Miss Makino made it into international headlines as the victim of a hostage drama. She was released and neither her nor her foetus was hurt. However, this is where the coincidence gets uncanny. The doctor in charge of her at the hospital was the very same doctor, Nishikaido, that she had been seeing before. On top of that, when we paid his secretary, Maya, for any more strange information, she told us that his clinic was broken into the very night of Miss Makino's admission. Strangely enough, nothing of value was stolen, and the very next day, all samples, save for one, mysteriously reappeared. The missing samples belonged to a woman who, when asked to check, was found to be a pregnant patient of Dr. Nishikaido's."

Kaede made no answer this time. Instead, she read the report in a more thorough manner.

"Any orders, President?" asked Nishida.

"You are to continue the investigation. Put Miss Makino and Tsukasa under twenty four hour surveillance."

"As you wish, President. We have positioned some SPs outside Eitoku."

* * *

Kaede's presence at the Domyouji mansion made returning to Eitoku a very welcoming experience for Tsukushi, despite being bombarded by many of her so-called 'new friends' all enquiring on the status of her baby, the hostage drama and Domyouji himself. 

"How is your baby? Still well?"

"Did you really get rescued in a helicopter?"

"Can I have your autograph?"

Tsukushi did not feel at all comfortable being asked so many questions. Had her fighting spirit not been sapped by Kaede's sudden reappearance back into her life, she would have made sarcastic and witty remarks back at all these plastic friends.

Rui accompanied her quietly by her side, reasonably reprimanding those who disturbed her. Not to be outdone by this friend and rival, whom Domyouji still believed to be potent competition, he took to the other extreme of defending Tsukushi: the preemptive strike. Rather than wait for people to disturb her, he threatened to beat up anyone who dared to go within one metre of Tsukushi, or say anything remotely like a word to her.

He did not like the fact that all these other people were sharing _his_ Tsukushi's attention. And so, like a diligent guard dog, he made sure to wait outside Tsukushi's classroom five minutes before school ended so he can fend off any attacks from those troublesome and nosy students. Right on the dot, just as the bell rang, he charged straight into the classroom and whisked Tsukushi out before the students rising from their seats could make their way towards her to inundate her with more useless questions.

"Good afternoon, cla-" said Tsukushi's teacher. He was interrupted when Domyouji charged straight in, grabbed Tsukushi by the hand and charged straight back out, knocking over tables, chairs and students along the way.

"Hey! Hey! What the hell are you doing?" demanded Tsukushi.

"Taking you home, of course," snapped Domyouji gruffly, as if escorting a girl home by dragging her around roughly by the wrists were the norm.

"Domyouji! It hurts! Let go!" cried Tsukushi.

He finally let go when they reached the school gates.

"Good. We're safe," he muttered, looking around at the empty school gates.

"Safe from what?" asked Tsukushi, concerned. _Could it be that there are SPs here?_

"From Rui, of course!" growled Domyouji.

Oblivious to Domyouji's jealousy, Tsukushi wondered why on earth Domyouji should be so afraid to see Hanazawa Rui. It was no surprise that Domyouji should jump in fright when suddenly, the said Hanazawa Rui appeared with Soujiro and Akira.

"Woah, woah, steady," said Soujiro. "No need to be so excited whenever you see me. I know I'm handsome, but I don't swing that way."

"What are you doing here?!" demanded Domyouji, as if Soujiro had no right to be at the school gates.

"We go to this school too, Tsukasa," reminded Rui. "Not just you and Makino."

"Anyway, I wouldn't be leaving the school right now if I were you," said Soujiro smugly, as if he knew something that Domyouji obviously did not.

"Why not?" said Domyouji irritably, having spent all morning trying to pull Tsukushi away from Rui's magnetism, which was now all in vain seeing that Rui chose to reappear at the very moment he was about to leave. He was very eager to get Tsukushi away from Rui's allure.

"Look through the gates and peer towards your left. Don't make it so obvious though," murmured Akira casually, "See that black car there? Do you recognise it?"

"That's one of our SPs!" gasped Domyouji.

"That's right," said Akira casually, as if they were having a chat. "They've been here all morning."

"How dare she do this to me!" roared Domyouji. "I'm going to go home and teach her a lesson!"

"Hold on a sec there, Tsukasa," said Soujiro, grabbing Domyouji by the collar before he could charge out and beat the SPs senseless. "Being the _handsome_ genius that I am, I've already thought out a plan for you. We could turn what looks like a horrible dead end into something to our advantage."

_Good grief,_ thought Tsukushi. _I really wonder how being handsome has anything to do with his genius..._

"Actually, Rui and I made the most contribution to it," corrected Akira. "All Soujiro did was see that there were a few SPs posted outside the school."

"See here, Tsukasa," said Rui. "These SPs were probably ordered by your mother to monitor your movements and report any oddities to her. We're going to stage a brilliant act to prove beyond dispute that Tsukushi is indeed pregnant with your child. I am sure your mother will trust what her SPs report to her, and if they see with their own eyes that she is pregnant, they will report that and leave Tsukushi alone. We will show them everything to say that Tsukushi is pregnant."

"And how are we supposed to report that to them in a discrete way?" said Tsukushi. "I'm not going to dance around the street singing 'Hello, I'm pregnant!'"

"This is where the three most gorgeous geniuses ever to grace the lawns of Eitoku will sacrifice their afternoons with their girlfriends to help you," declared Soujiro importantly. "While you were slaving around on a meaningless curriculum, we've been putting our creativity to use and come up with a foolproof plan guaranteed to trick everyone into believing your pregnancy."

"Right," sighed Tsukushi, rolling her eyes.

"Our plan is for you to let them follow you, and while pretending to not know that they are watching your every move, you prove beyond dispute that Makino is pregnant, and in turn, they will report it to your mother so you can marry her," said Rui. "If everything goes well, they'll only discover that Makino was _not _pregnant _after_ your marriage, which, by then, should be too late to change."

"Tsukasa, the first thing I suggest is for you to take Tsukushi out on a date," said Soujiro. "May I recommend to you this Italian restaurant I went to a few nights ago?"

"No," said Domyouji.

"Take this." said Akira, putting something into Domyouji's hand. Domyouji inspected the strange looking thing with wonder. "Knowing you, you're going to do something stupid if we're not here to guide you. It's a miniature two way communication device that my mother bought from Europe. She was going to use it to have direct communication with my father in Spain, but then she realised that those signals won't be able to travel over a few thousand kilometres of ocean. Let's test if this thing works before you take off with it."

Akira put the strange device into his ear as Domyouji did the same with its twin.

"Hello, Tsukasa. Can you hear me? Testing, testing, one, two, three!"

"I can hear you loud and clear, because you're standing right in front of me," said Domyouji flatly.

"Ooops, sorry," said Akira sheepishly. He walked across the lawn so that he was out of Domyouji's earshot. His voice then came through, albeit a sounding a bit more mechanistic due to it being distorted by the little device. "_Can you hear me now?_"

"Yep. Perfectly fine. Can you hear me?" replied Domyouji.

"_Yeah._"

"So, Akira, if this can't travel over a few thousand kilometres, how far can it travel?" said Domyouji.

"_Five hundred metres,_" said Akira sheepishly.

"Tell me," muttered Domyouji, "How are you going to communicate with me when this bloody thing can only send signals up when the two devices are only five hundred metres apart?"

"We're going to follow you too," smiled Rui serenely. "I recently got my license, you see."

"Rui, we already said we're getting my chauffer, didn't we?" cried Soujiro, horrified.

"Did we?" said Rui, bemused. "I must've been asleep - I didn't notice."

* * *

As directed by the 'handsome genius who knows more tricks than the karma sutra', as Soujiro had proudly called himself, Domyouji and Tsukushi were sent off on a date at the Italian restaurant that Soujiro had been shamelessly promoting. 

They were given time to go ahead so that the SPs could follow them, and in turn, the F3 could follow the SPs so they could keep track of who and where they were. Akira and Soujiro, who claimed credit for most of the plan, were very proud of it indeed - it felt like they were killing two birds with one stone. Not only could they advance _their_ 'absolutely ingenious' plan in which they claim that Makino is pregnant (which, of course, had been Domyouji's idea in the first place), but they also managed to secretly create romantic situations for Tsukushi and Domyouji to be in - without them actually knowing. They were fooling the SPs _and_ their beloved couple at once!

Chuckling with pride, Akira and Soujiro were about call either of their chauffeurs and run off to the front gate when Rui announced that they should go in his car, thereby destroying their very scheme to _not_ go in his car.

"Why are you heading to the front gate?" enquired Rui, oblivious to the fact that they thought of him as a very dangerous driver.

"To wait for my chauffer, of course!" said Soujiro, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why would you need a chauffer when you have me?" said Rui, again, oblivious.

"You know, as the son of the Hanazawa family, I believe you should not trouble yourself with the menial tasks easily performed by your servants," said Akira sagely, putting his hands on Rui's shoulders and looking him squarely in the eye, as if they were having a father to son talk.

"But I don't mind," said Rui generously.

"Oh, man," muttered Soujiro.

"Where'd you park you car?" asked Akira, hoping it would be so far away that he could complain about the long walking distance and thereby escape getting into Rui's car. He knew for a fact that Eitoku didn't have student carparks as most students were driven to school in limousines anyway.

"In the teacher's carpark, just over there," said Rui, pointing at the carpark adjacent to the lawn.

"Oh, man," muttered Akira.

"Let's go before we lose track of Tsukasa and Makino," suggested Rui.

Akira and Soujiro followed Rui reluctantly, and found themselves more afraid than ever before they even got into his car. Rui's parking skills were obviously nonexistent for his car was not parked neatly into one parking space, but rather, sprawled diagonally across not one, not two, but _three_ spaces.

"Come in," said Rui cheerfully, humming as he unlocked the doors. Impassive Rui looking so happy was not a good sign. Akira and Soujiro gave each other looks, as if to say "You first."

Finally, Akira caved in and got on at the back, leaving the dangerous front seat for Soujiro.

"Alright," said Rui, sounding more excited and happier than he had ever sounded before. "Let's go!"

He started up the car and began to maneuver out of his two parking spots. Even though he had such a wide space with which to get himself out, somehow he was unable to manage it without scraping the two cars parked adjacent to his spaces.

"Oops," said Rui, as he bumped the car to his left while reversing.

"Poor Mr. Naruhodou," sighed Akira. "I heard that being a P.E teacher at Eitoku doesn't pay well despite the high fees."

"Oh no," said Rui, as he bumped the car to his right while going forward.

"Poor Mr. Mitsurugi," sighed Soujiro. "I heard that he still had a few repayments left on his new car."

After many twists and turns, Rui finally managed to negotiate his way out of his parking space(s), leaving the two adjacent cars with very noticeable dents to their sides.

"I feel so sorry for them," said Akira.

"I feel more sorry for us," corrected Soujiro.

"I promise I'll write them a cheque to get their cars fixed," said Rui. "Are you ready yet? Let's go!"

Without waiting for their answer, which was obviously going to be a no, he stepped (a bit too hard) on the accelerator, and they sped out of the school - unleashing Rui the dangerous driver and his unwilling allies onto the unsuspecting world.

* * *

Next Chapter: The F3 carry out a subplan of their big plan! What happens when they follow the SPs who are following Domyouji and Tsukushi? And with our 'handsome geniuses' being the masterminds of this, what kind of trouble will they stir up? Find out next chapter! 

(No, this fic is not dead) :(


	16. I spy

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except the plot. :)

I apologise for the fact that this chapter took so long.

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter Sixteen: I spy

* * *

"_Arghhh! Rui! Slow down, slow down!_" came Akira's scream, loud and clear over the little communication device that was plugged in Domyouji's ear. Domyouji winced.

Rui muttered something incoherent and Domyouji then heard him laugh. To his horror, he heard Soujiro's screams of fear being added to the fray. The noise and the static travelling to his ear were killing him, and he felt the urge to take it off. He stuck his finger into his ear, trying to adjust it.

"What's wrong?" said Tsukushi, noticing the fact that Domyouji's face was contorted into a grimace. They were sitting comfortably inside the restaurant, and upon noticing Domyouji's weird facial expression, she had set aside her menu. "Are they sending you any instructions yet?"

"No," muttered Domyouji, "But it sounds like Rui is torturing Soujiro and Akira. I never thought of him as a sadist."

"_Dude! You're going to crash into the car behind us if you reverse any further!_" cried Akira.

"I wonder if there is any way to turn of this thing," said Domyouji, "I'm getting a lot of useless feedback."

"_Oh man, that's another cheque you have to write out,_" said Akira. There was some muttering from Soujiro, and again, Akira's voice came over, loud and clear.

"_Hello, hello, Tsukasa? Can you hear me?_"

"I can hear you perfectly," growled Domyouji. "In fact, I can hear you a bit _too_ perfectly. How was your trip down?"

"_It was fine_," lied Akira. "_Anyway, we got ourselves a nice parking spot in front of your restaurant, so I can see you and Makino perfectly. I'm just going to inform you that I can see one of the SPs heading towards the restaurant. She's a woman with iron grey hair. Watch out for her._"

Domyouji turned to the window, and following his cue, Tsukushi turned as well. Parked across the road was Rui's handsome convertible, albeit a little dented and scratched on the side. Soujiro's face was pale and he looked nauseous, and Akira's hair was so windswept that it looked as if he had been on a roller coaster. The only one who looked unscathed was Rui, who beamed in their direction as if nothing had happened.

As predicted by Akira, a woman with iron grey hair came in and got a seat near a few tables away from them.

"_Have you ordered anything yet? Remember that pregnant women have to be a bit more particular about what they eat._" reminded Akira. There was some muttering from Soujiro and then Akira said, "_By the way, Soujiro recommends their wood-fire pizzas. Apparently they're really good._"

A waiter came to take their orders. Domyouji asked him in a rather loud voice whether the chef's recommendations were alright for a pregnant woman to eat.

"Yes, it is, sir," replied the waiter stiffly, obviously displeased at the fact that Domyouji would even think that their chef's food should be unfit for a pregnant woman.

"I'll take that then. What do you recommend with regards to wood-fire pizzas?" asked Domyouji. He cleared his throat and then declared in a voice loud and proud enough to be heard by the other patrons, "Oh, by the way - my girlfriend is pregnant."

"It is fine, sir," replied the waiter, again, looking sullen.

"_Tsukasa, the key is to be subtle!_" reminded Akira. "_Stop being so blatantly obvious!_"

"Well," reminded Domyouji importantly. "She's _not_ pregnant, but lately, her tummy has been getting this big bulge. I really, really, wonder why this would be."

Tsukushi, who could not hear any of Akira's instructions, gave Domyouji a strange look. _What on earth was he doing, declaring three times, and rather loudly too, that she was pregnant? Did they really need to be so blatantly obvious, as if they were truly aware that they were being followed?_

She glanced at the woman with the iron grey hair and noticed that she was typing something into her laptop, pretending to not hear anything.

_What could she possibly be typing on it? A report about us?  
_

* * *

"President," said Nishida. "Our agents have returned with their reports on the activities of the young master and Miss Makino. As planned, at 1400, agents Akagi, Kaji and Katsuragi were stationed outside Eitoku Academy. Our targets, the young master and Miss Makino, appeared before the predicted time of 1500, and we were caught off guard as a result. However, we were able to get our act together quickly, and as a result, we followed them as they headed downtown in a taxi towards Pasta Plus. They went in and agent Akagi followed. She will now present her report."

Agent Akagi, a woman with iron grey hair, sauntered into Domyouji Kaede's office. She bowed at Kaede, and on her invitation, she took a seat across the grand office table from where Kaede was seated. She pulled out her laptop from her case.

"President, I have typed up a report of my observations for you to view at your leisure," said Akagi in a no-nonsense kind of tone. "We arrived at outside the restaurant at 1535, approximately 5 minutes after our targets. To avoid being too conspicuous, it was elected that only I should enter. I managed to negotiate a seat close to the target."

"Continue," said Kaede, glancing at her perfectly manicured fingernails.

"The young master, as expected of him, demanded to know from the waiter whether the food was suitable for a pregnant woman. Initially, I found the fact that he kept on asking and asking, over and over, in a loud voice whether the food was pregnant woman friendly to be rather strange. It almost seems as if he was emphasising the fact that she was pregnant. However, when I ran this observation past Nishida, he said it was nothing to be afraid of. In fact, after thinking through it, I believe it is safe to declare that this observation is not strange at all."

Akagi waited for Kaede's prompt. All Kaede gave was a look that plainly said "Continue."

"You see, the young master has been known to be quite the show-off ever since he was young. It was never like him to be subtle. He liked to show off his new toys, and as he grew older, he liked to show off his power. I believe that nowadays, he likes to show off the one he loves most, and that he makes no qualms about it."

Kaede merely frowned.

"What happened afterwards?"

"The young master ordered quite a few woodfire pizzas, and kept on piling them onto Miss Makino's plate. Miss Makino ate quite a few of them, but without finishing all seven large pizzas, the young master paid and they left. They then proceeded to go shopping at the Hanazawa Co. Department Stores..."

* * *

_"Now,"_ said Akira. Domyouji and Tsukushi were walking up the grand steps towards Hanazawa Co., a very famous department store chain owned by Hanazawa Rui's family. _"I believe it's time that you guys went shopping. A truly expectant couple would already be decorating the baby's room and stocking up nappies."_

"How would you know?" snorted Domyouji derisively.

_"I speak from exper- I mean, I speak from my ex-girlfriend's experience. She was expecting a baby with her husband and she was all wild about it. Pregnant women are truly beautiful, did you know that? They really glow. Turns out she only wanted to have a fling while her husband was on a business trip, I was so -"_

"Okay," Domyouji cut in quickly, before Akira could go into his sad and forlorn story about how he lost his true love. "So where are you guys now?"

_"We beat you here. We're already sitting in the cafe on the top floor, so we have a good view of all the shoppers on the floors below us. We'll stake out who the SP is, but it'll be hard. There's too many people shopping here. Is there anything that will distinguish them from the rest of the shoppers?"_

"Well, for a start, they always wear suits," said Domyouji.

_"Great, that eliminates approximately forty percent of the shoppers here," _said Akira dryly.

"And they always wear sunglasses, regardless. It's to hide their identities."

_"Now that's easier. Only fools will wear glasses indoors."_

Sure enough, as Akira, Soujiro and Rui scanned the crowds five levels below them, they found a man in a dark suit and sunglasses tailing Tsukushi and Domyouji as they snaked around the crowds towards the baby section.

_"Aha. We found him,"_ came Akira's triumphant voice over the little earbud stuck in Domyouji's ear. _"Behind you, that man with a combover. Does he look familiar?"_

"You bet," growled Domyouji, glancing casually backwards. Although his look was nonchalant, Tsukushi noticed that his fists were balled tightly and his stance seemed to be slowly turning towards the SP. It looked as he wanted to turn around suddenly and punch the SP in a surprise attack.

"Don't!" hissed Tsukushi, before Domyouji could do anything stupid and ruin this great opportunity to trick Kaede.

_"Keep walking around casually as if you haven't noticed anything,"_ instructed Akira. _"Act as though you are really an expectant couple. Go on, hold hands with each other. I've never seen a soon to be mother and father walking so far apart."_

"Here," said Domyouji gruffly, thrusting his hand in front of Tsukushi's face.

"What?" said Tsukushi, puzzled by the fact that Domyouji suddenly decided to shove his hand in her face.

"Hold it," commanded Domyouji.

"Hold what?" asked Tsukushi, looking into his empty palm and searching for whatever he wanted her to hold for him.

"My hand, woman!" barked Domyouji. "How dense can you commoners get?!"

"Oh!" cried Tsukushi in her moment of enlightenment. Quickly, she backed away from his hand as if it were radioactive. "Um, you know... I, er... just picked my nose."

"That's okay. I like the feeling of nose picking on my palm," said Domyouji sarcastically, rolling his eyes at her lame excuse. "I don't see why you should be so afraid of holding my hand."

"Because!" hissed Tsukushi. "Your SPs are right behind us!"

She had feelings of deja vu about this. She felt quite uneasy about open displays of affection in public when one of his mother's agents were so close behind them. It brought back those feelings of being preyed upon from the last time that Kaede had increased surveillance around Domyouji in an effort to stop him seeing her.

"This isn't like last time," scowled Domyouji, as he grabbed her hand before she could make up any more excuses as to why she could not hold hands with him. "Last time, she wanted to stop us seeing each other. This time, she wants to find out if we really are together. We're going to convince her, okay?"

"Okay," muttered Tsukushi, her face flushing up as they held hands for the public to see.

Unbeknownst to them, however, this simple instruction had also been part of the plan by the 'handsome geniuses', as Soujiro liked to call himself, Akira, and Rui (who had politely declined such an extravagant title) to create more romantic situations that Domyouji and Tsukushi could get into. Soujiro and Akira, in particular, had noticed for quite some time the appalling lack romance that their favourite couple had shared in their time together. Barely had they held hands together in public, rarely had they kissed without Domyouji forcing himself onto Tsukushi, and never had they even reached home base! They couldn't even eat lunch together at school without feeling awkward!

This was the kind of situation requiring Soujiro and Akira's expertise. Together, they would formulate every imaginable romantic situation to put Tsukushi and Domyouji through, and with enough of those, they will surely make a baby for themselves! They will have plenty of romance. They will build up on it step by step, and they will get into the mood for love, and then - voila! A baby! It had been the truth all along then. And with that, there would be no need to go through all these fake tummies and whatnot!

Although Soujiro had originally intended for them to have a romantic lunch at the restaurant where he had won many girls' hearts, it had been a failure. Tsukushi had been far to strung up about being spied upon, whilst Domyouji had been trying too hard to make the fact that Tsukushi was pregnant obvious to the SPs spying on them. But now, to finally see the fruits of their labour bloom! What a wonderful sight! But somehow, something just seemed amiss here.

They were seated five levels above Tsukushi and Domyouji, Tsukushi was blushing so furiously that even Soujiro and Akira could see it that far up as if it were a traffic light.

"Embarrassment wasn't really the reaction we were expecting her to have," muttered Soujiro darkly. "It should've been more like..."

"Oh, Tsukasaaa-samaaa! I am so very frightened that there is that scary SP with a combover following us!" cried Akira in a falsetto voice, and thus beginning the infamous Soujiro-and-Akira skit.

"Don't worry, my beloved weed," cried Soujiro reassuringly, putting his arm around Akira as Akira beamed lovingly at Soujiro, hand on his chest. Soujiro gently flicked some loose strands of hair away from Akira's face. "I will stake my life to protect you and our child. Never fear, for Tsukasa is here!"

"Oh Tsukasa! You are _so manly._ You must be a beast," purred Akira.

"You'd bet I am," growled Soujiro seductively. "Want me to show you the extent of my power?"

"That kind of situation borders on fiction," said Rui, blinking. "I really cannot see either of them acting as such."

"To be honest, I can't see either of them doing that either," said Soujiro.

"It's always good to dream," sighed Akira, pulling away from Soujiro.

Five levels below them, Domyouji had heard enough of the Akira's part of the skit from the little two way headset to gather enough information into what the trio was up to.

"I'll kill you," he hissed, as he and Tsukushi browsed around the baby section, her hand held firmly inside his bigger one.

"Hmm?" said Tsukushi, turning away from the baby's clothes.

"Nothing," said Domyouji, quickly flashing her a smile before whispering back into the small microphone, "You'd better make sure you lock all your doors and windows tonight."

"What's wrong, Domyouji?" asked Tsukushi, looking in his direction worriedly. She had never seen him talking to himself before.

"Nothing," repeated Domyouji, feeling around his head, trying to find a way to switch it off, though it was to no avail.

"Alright..." said Tsukushi, though her look plainly said she was still questioning it. But pushing such worrying thoughts as Domyouji's sanity aside, she was starting to feel at ease with such a public display of affection as she deemed holding hands to be. In fact, having his fingers interlocked with hers was so reassuring. She felt so secure, with his hands wrapped around hers in a protective manner. Even the SPs she knew were tailing them could not destroy how safe she felt to be with him.

Tsukushi was feeling less self conscious, and was beginning to enjoy this simple date more and more.

"Hey, look at this, Domyouji!" said Tsukushi, grabbing a tiny set of baby's clothes. "Isn't this cute?"

"Sort of," said Domyouji gruffly. "Not as cute as you, though."

"Ha ha ha," said Tsukushi sarcastically, though she couldn't help but feel a little amused at the way he could compliment her in such an insulting fashion - comparing her to baby's clothes!

"Hey, I was being serious!" said Domyouji, offended. "But this piece of clothing has got to be worth more than what your whole family earns in a month."

"Shut up," said Tsukushi. "I know I'm poor, so you can stop rubbing it in."

Simply browsing through the displays at an upper class department store was the type of date that Tsukushi had always dreamed of having with Domyouji. Nothing fancy - just dating the good old commoner way. Secretly, she felt she owed one to Soujiro and Akira for this. Had it not been for them purposely setting them up like this, she would otherwise have a hard time trying to convince him to go on dates like these.

They had so much fun looking at baby's clothes, baby's toys and all other sorts of unnecessary paraphernalia related to babies that she nearly forgot that they were being spied upon by a man with a combover who was pretending to be interested in nappies.

_It just wasn't worth worrying about right now,_ thought Tsukushi, as she flicked through a book of baby's names. _Better to enjoy it now while it lasts. I wouldn't usually get opportunities like this._

"So, what should we call our 'child'?" she asked, as she flashed some names past Domyouji for his approval.

"Well," Domyouji said thoughtfully. "I believe it should keep to the tradition of naming in the Domyouji family. My sister's name is Tsubaki, and mine's Tsukasa. Do you see a pattern there?"

"You want it to be Tsu-something, right?" replied Tsukushi.

"That's it. That's the naming tradition that has been in our family. In addition to that, _your _name is Tsukushi. It makes so much sense have our child's name to be Tsu-something too."

"How about..." said Tsukushi, flicking through the pages trying to find a name that satisfied their criteria, though they couldn't. Most names were too common, too bland. "... how about something unique?"

"Like?"

"Tsunami?"

"Don't be stupid," scowled Tsukasa, "Our kid isn't some kind of disaster."

"I think it's pretty unique," said Tsukushi stoutly. "Domyouji Tsunami. Has very forceful ring to it, doesn't it?"

They progressively wound their way around the baby's section, looking at all sorts of baby products. At Akira's convincing that real parents-to-be would be stocking up baby supplies in the months leading up to the birth, Domyouji suddenly felt the need to stock up on nappies and other baby hygiene products.

Tsukushi, having lived a life being thrifty, tried to urge him not to spend so much money on products for a baby that didn't even exist with comments such as the fact that they wouldn't know how big the baby will be and therefore what size nappies or clothing they would need for it, or which brand is beter. In response to Tsukushi's comment, Domyouji proceeded to buy out the whole of Hanazawa Co's baby department stock so that at the time of birth, regardless of whatever size the baby would be, they would have something suitable for it.

Tsukushi couldn't help but feel pained at the way he was wasting his money. The money that he had just spent buying out everything Hanazawa Co owned in the baby department (including its very expensive furniture) could have been better spent to pay her way into university...

_Damn rich people,_ she thought.

* * *

"... and it is here at Hanazawa Co. Department Stores that our second SP, Kaji, observed their behaviour," finished Agent Akagi. "I will now hand over this briefing to him."

A man with a combover walked into the room where Kaede was seated most pompously on her president's chair. He gave her low bow before beginning his report.

"Good evening, President," said Agent Kaji, as he was better known. "I am here to present my report on my observations of the young master's and Miss Makino's behaviour today. We left the pizza parlour and proceeded to Hanazawa Co, where I took over Agent Akagi's duties in observing them. Initially, Miss Makino seemed to be very shy, as she initially refused to hold his hands. After the young master grabbed her hand, however, they proceeded to browse through items for their child."

Kaede made no reply.

"They looked at different clothes and tried finding a name for their baby. Moreover, because Miss Makino was indecisive about which products were suitable for the child, the young master proceeded to buy out the whole stock so that she could try them on the baby at her own leisure."

"Anything odd with their behaviour?" said Kaede. "I need not hear this utter nonsense."

"Apart from being shy about holding his hand at first, I believe there is nothing strange to be concerned about," said Agent Kaji. "Her shyness may have been derived from being previously spied upon and their apparent lack of public affection. Also, I did not believe that they were aware of my tailing them. They went about shopping as natural, in a way that I have seen many expectant couples do."

"Useless," replied Kaede. "My intuition tells me that there is something profoundly odd about this. Do you not believe that an expectant couple would have done their research as to which baby products would be appropriate?"

"Well, yes, but knowing the young master's extravagant behaviour, he certainly seems to be the type to buy out everything without thinking of the consequences," stated Agent Kaji reasonably.

Kaede merely paused for a minute, almost as if considering whether to dismiss this useless agent, but decided against it.

"Continue," she said.

"After their uneventful time shopping, they proceeded to go to a maternity wear boutique..."

* * *

"I don't see why we need to buy clothes like this," said Tsukushi, as she and Domyouji stood outside the grand doors of a designer boutique specialising in maternity wear.

"Perhaps it's because a pregnant woman's stomach may get bigger?" snickered Domyouji. "You shouldn't be able to fit into your school uniform a few months from now."

"No, I meant that we don't need to get such expensive clothes," stated Tsukushi. "I'd much rather get more affordable clothes from a cheap shop since I'm only going to wear it for a few months."

"No future member of the Domyouji is going to dress in cheap clothes," declared Domyouji. "Let's go."

He pushed open the double doors of the upmarket boutique and was instantly greeted by a pretty salesperson. Domyouji introduced himself and was given a reception fit for a visiting dignitary of a foreign country. Consequently, Tsukushi was treated as if she were a queen. Salespersons rushed back and forth, bringing her gorgeous pieces of maternity wear and tried helping her try them on (Tsukushi had politely declined all offer of help for fear of them seeing her fake tummy) whilst Domyouji lounged on a comfy armchair, sipping his complimentary coffee while waiting for Tsukushi.

_"Like the shop?" _came Akira's voice over the little device. _"My ex-girlfriend got her clothes here when she had her son."_

"It's okay," said Domyouji noncommittally. "Not like I've ever gone shopping for eternity wear before."

_"You mean maternity wear?"_ said Akira. _"Anyway, we're parked outside the shop, just across the street. See us?"_

Domyouji turned to the window and saw Akira give him a small wave.

"Yeah. Don't make it so obvious though."

_"Sorry," _replied Akira sheepishly. _"Anyway, we've found your SPs for you. She's sitting in that black car parked directly in front of the shop. It's a good thing that this is a small place, because she can't enter it without making herself plainly obvious to you. But she'll still be watching you from behind those tinted windows."_

"We'll talk more later, Makino's just finished changing," said Domyouji. He got up and walked over to where Tsukushi was inspecting herself in front of a large mirror, the (fake) bulge quite evidently pressed against a tailored shirt.

"How do I look?" said Tsukushi, noticing him appearing behind her in the mirror. "I look so much more mature, eh?"

"You don't have to ask me," said Domyouji. "You will always look like a commoner regardless of what you wear."

"Shut up."

"I'm just kidding. You know what I think - you look like a goddess," he teased.

Tsukushi couldn't help but feel her cheeks warm up in pleasure. "I look less like a commoner now, eh?"

Domyouji simply gave her a wry smile, though his eyes looked sad, almost distant. Noticing this, Tsukushi couldn't help but feel slightly worried. _What's with this sudden change of mood? He was so relaxed, so happy, just a minute ago..._

"What's wrong?"

Domyouji sighed. He stared at their reflection in the mirror; he was standing behind her and she had a small baby bulge poking out from the shirt. He bent down towards her and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"We look just like a family," he whispered tenderly into her ear, his chin propped lightly on her shoulder. She could feel his breath tickling her ears.

Tsukushi shuddered. Suddenly the room seemed to dim, almost as if Domyouji's melancholy was sucking all the light from it. It felt like there was only him and her inside the shop.

Ever since she had started wearing the fake tummy, she found that Domyouji was becoming increasingly fixated with the idea of them starting a family. At first, this was only started as a way for Domyouji's mother to approve of her and to let them date in peace. The tummy had been provided as a prop for that to happen. The F3 had thought of it as one very good joke.

Yet now she realised that Domyouji, upon seeing her in a 'pregnant' state, thought that she looked even more beautiful than if she was not pregnant.

_What if he did want to make it a reality?_ thought Tsukushi. _Would he... would he force himself onto me?_

Suddenly, everything about this plan - from the start to this current little episode - seemed to have been a fiasco from the very beginning. She didn't want to encourage Domyouji any more than she needed to. After all, much as she loved Domyouji, she still had her life ahead of her. She would, of course, love to spend the rest of her life with him. But children can wait - she wanted to study while she was still young, and after all, if she had the rest of her life to spend with him, they can have children whenever, right?

She felt so cold and clammy inside now, and shuddered. To think that Domyouji could be harbouring such thoughts was eerie.

"Let... let go," she whispered.

"I will never let you go," he whispered back. He simply held onto her.

"The SPs are watching us!" she hissed.

"Why should you care?" he said slowly. She tried looking into his eyes in the mirror to tell him to let go of her, but despite the fact that he was looking into her eyes, his was shrouded in a dark shadow, almost as if he was mutinous. He wasn't looking at her; he was looking _beyond_ her. "Put your trust in me. Let me handle it. I will protect you."

"I..." stammered Tsukushi. She was rather afraid now - he looked as if he was ready to murder anyone in his way. It really was true when the F3 had likened her to an animal trainer - Domyouji was like a beast. His mood was like a pendulum, to be able to swing so quickly from one end of the spectrum to another!

Unbeknownst to either of them, both of whom were so caught up in the moment, a woman in a suit and sunglasses was taking pictures of them from her car parked in front of the boutique.

* * *

"Agent Katsuragi will now present her observations," said Nishida, and a young woman with her hair held tightly in a bun walked in purposefully.

"Good evening, President," she said. "I am here to present my report on the young master and Miss Makino. After they left the Hanazawa Co. Department Store, they made their way to the Vouis Luitton maternity wear boutique. However, due to various circumstances, I was unable to follow them into the shop as it would compromise on my visibility. I was, however, able, to take as many pictures of them as I could."

She handed over various blurred photos of Tsukushi in maternity wear and of Domyouji sipping coffee, and then some photos of them in an embrace.

"What would be your opinion on what you saw?" said Kaede.

"President, I did not see anything odd that would otherwise say that Miss Makino is not carrying a child. There was nothing in their behaviour to suggest anything as such. They acted as a truly expectant couple would."

"What rubbish," said Kaede. "My intuition tells me that there is something profoundly odd with what they have been doing."

"But, President-"

"What kind of people have you been hiring, Nishida?" said Kaede, ignoring Katsuragi's pleas. "They seemed to have missed all these important points, and _they_ were the ones on the scene, not I!"

"President, what is it that they have missed?" said Nishida, trying not to sound accusatory.

"For example - their department store expedition. Would a truly expectant couple not have done their research and determined some sort of favourite brand for their perusal upon the birth of their baby? They would probably have asked other people, would they not?" questioned Kaede. "Secondly, what kind of parents-to-be would buy every sort of nappy out there before their child is born? Before a child is born, parents would most likely stock up on nappies for newborns, and probably would not have given nappies for toddlers a second glance! But they - without even bothering to look at what types of nappies existed - had just bought out everything. How very lazy of them."

The three SPs looked at each other, pursing their lips.

"How long have you been in the service of the Domyouji family?" asked Kaede.

"Fifteen months, President," replied Katsuragi. Kaji and Akagi did not reply. They knew what was going to happen.

"Thank you very kindly for your service," said Kaede. "But from tomorrow on, you need not come to work anymore. You are dismissed. Nishida, please escort them out."

Once they were sent out, Kaede gave her secretary new orders.

"Hire me three competent SPs tomorrow."

* * *

What had started off as a fun date of sorts had gone spectacularly wrong, all thanks to Domyouji's strange mood swing. Tsukushi and Domyouji sat together in an uncomfortable silence in the limousine on their way back to the Domyouji estate. Once they were back, Tsukushi quickly ran back to her room before he could say or suggest anything to her.

_I... I can't last here any longer, _she thought. _I have to get out of here. All this spying - and Domyouji's behaviour lately - is all too much for me. If I stay here any longer, he'll force himself onto me... and ... what if..._

She shuddered at the horrible thoughts that came like a relentless flood. She bounded down the vast corridors that she had come to be familiar with and found her room. Quickly, Tsukushi shut the door and looked for her suitcase that was tucked neatly in a corner of the room. She went around the room, gathering what meagre possessions she had, and was about to shove them all into her suitcase when there was a gentle knock on the door.

She nearly jumped. _It couldn't be that.. Domyouji... he wants to... make-_

"Tsukushi dear? May I come in?" said Tsubaki.

Tsukushi looked guiltily at the possessions that were sprawled messily across her bed. Although she really wanted to say no, she knew she could never refuse Tsubaki like this.

"Come in..." Tsukushi began hesitantly.

Tsubaki came in cautiously and noticed all the packing Tsukushi had been doing.

"What are you doing, Tsukushi?!" cried Tsubaki.

"I can't stay here anymore," said Tsukushi. "All this spying is just getting a bit too much for me. And there's also the-"

She paused. She really couldn't tell Tsubaki the other half of why she really wanted to leave, because that would make her sad. She knew that Domyouji had made no qualms about making love to her, and she knew that, given the opportunity, he probably would not hesitate to do so. But Tsukushi, the working class virgin, on the other hand, wanted to put it off until they were married.

"Tsukushi, please don't leave!" cried Tsubaki, who, upon hearing the first reason why Tsukushi wanted to leave had not even bothered to hear the rest of Tsukushi's story out. "I know it's tough, because I've been through the same thing before! And look at me, I've survived through all of this. I know you're a strong girl, you will survive too! Don't let my mother get to you like this! If you leave, it'll just be the same as conceding defeat to her!"

Tsubaki gave very pleading looks to Tsukushi, who started to feel her resolve crumbling.

_Sister has been so good to me... I just can't disappoint her like this._

But then the more pressing reason hit her again.

"But... I can't... encroach on your hospitality any longer," offered Tsukushi lamely.

"Don't worry about that," beamed Tsubaki reassuringly. "You're welcome anytime."

"Sister, I _really_ can't stay here any longer," asserted Tsukushi.

"How about this, Tsukushi, dear," said Tsubaki. "I know that you're determined to leave, because you're the type who likes to depend on herself. But please, just stay a little bit longer, okay? Just stay until my birthday party, please? For my sake?"

"When will that be?"

"Oh, pretty soon," replied Tsubaki. "It'll just be a small thing for family and a few friends, and I'd definitely love for you to be there. You're already like a younger sister to me, and soon you'll be officially a part of the family. I would be most honoured to have you there."

And with those words, Tsukushi felt all resolution to leave evaporate.

"I'll stay," sighed Tsukushi.


	17. Birthday party

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except the plot. :)

Enjoy this penultimate chapter! (I think it's penultimate, unless I go overboard writing the next one).

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter Seventeen: Birthday party

* * *

Tsubaki beamed at Tsukushi's agreement (which was, in fact, more of a resignation). 

Tsukushi, however, soon realised that Tsubaki not only had a habit of continuing on her own tangent after hearing only half of someone's story, but she also had a strange tendency to downplay things that did not require downplaying.

When Tsubaki said that her party was 'pretty soon', she had, in fact meant a few months later. Tsukushi ended up staying much longer than she had intended at the Domyouji residence while waiting for Tsubaki's birthday party. In those tedious months, she had tried her very best to avoid seeing Kaede at home - though it was not too hard, considering the fact that Kaede was barely at home. Domyouji's strange mood swing was, thankfully, an isolated incidence catalysed by the mirror in the maternity wear boutique, and he had reverted to being the arrogant and proud Domyouji the very next day, once again berating her for being a commoner.

Over the months, Tsukushi had carefully adjusted her stomach (with some help from Domyouji) to grow in size to match the months that had past as she patiently waited to fulfill her promise to Tsubaki. By the time her birthday party came, Tsukushi's stomach was the size of a woman nearing the end of her third trimester and about to go into labour, such that Domyouji had to get a tailor to make a special set of clothes for her ("No future Domyouji is going to wear off the rack maternity wear," he had declared haughtily).

When Tsubaki said that her party was 'just a small thing for family and a few friends', it turned out that she had meant over two hundred guests in an A-list function consisting of family members to celebrities, and close friends to politicians. Secretly, Tsukushi was thankful that Domyouji had declared that she was to not wear anything off the rack; amongst the clothes that he had commissioned the tailor to make for her, there was a beautiful gown that was worthy of being worn to such an extravagant event.

After refusing help from either the maids or Domyouji, Tsukushi struggled into the gown, managed as well as she could with limited make-up skills she had, and clogged haplessly down the corridor in her stupidly high stilettos (which Tsubaki had kindly leant her) towards the vast lawns of the Domyouji residence, which was where Tsubaki's birthday party was.

The lawns that were mown so carefully and trimmed so neatly during the day had transformed into something grand by night. Fairy lights wove their way around the trees far above the guests heads. A string quartet was playing a soothing melody in the background, complementing the chatterings and murmurings of the guests as they mingled. A long banquet table had been set out in the middle, piled with delicious finger food made by the highly acclaimed chefs of the Domyouji residence.

Tsukushi became suddenly very aware of the bulge protruding from her stomach, and felt that it would, most certainly, draw her attention. She felt even more thankful than before for Domyouji's rare foresight - it was indeed lucky that she was wearing a designer maternity evening wear, or she would have felt even more self conscious than she needed to.

Tsukushi scanned the crowds of people, trying to find the F4 so that she would have a group to blend and disappear into. There were so many people; she could even recognize some of them from TV shows and movies. Thankfully, she did not have to search long, because the F4 had found her before she could find them.

"Makino!" scowled Domyouji loudly, a slightly annoyed look on his face as he stride purposefully towards her, parting the crowds of people holding champagne glasses as he charged on. A slightly bemused Rui, and an embarrassed looking Akira and Soujiro followed hastily behind. "What took you so long?!"

"Well, sorry that it was so hard to fit into this tight dress!" retorted Tsukushi, equally as loud. The crowds were now staring at them.

Soujiro slapped his forehead, and Akira averted his gaze from the scene like two embarrassed parents watching their kids fight in public. Rui was trying to hold in fits of laughter.

"You! You-" began Domyouji, looking at her up and down, trying to think of a comeback. "... you look beautiful."

"What?!" cried Tsukushi, who was expecting something insulting, and had been working hard to think of a retort while Domyouji was thinking. She flushed up, and hissed, "Don't say something stupid like that so loudly in public!"

"What's wrong with telling the world that I think the girl I love is beautiful?" smirked Domyouji, holding out his arm to her, to which Tsukushi accepted after a moment's hesitation. "Let's go."

As they walked along, people pointed and whispered at them. Tsukushi felt even more self conscious than ever, though Domyouji seemed quite oblivious to it. She tried to assure herself that they weren't whispering about her stomach; they were whispering about the four handsome men she was with. Indeed, they were especially attractive tonight, dressed smartly in their suits. It was no wonder that they were drawing so much attention.

Domyouji lead her to the buffet table.

"Pregnant women should eat more," he declared loftily. "Moreover, because you're such a malnourished commoner, you should eat even more."

"Shut up," said Tsukushi, but upon seeing the table piled high with delicious looking delicacies, she felt that she could finally take advantage of the fake stomach and pig out without having to offer any lame excuse.

"Do you need help, Makino?" asked Rui gently. "What do you want to eat?"

"I want this," said Tsukushi, pointing at some sashimi. Rui nodded at the chef, who put it on a plate.

"And this," she said, pointing at something that looked like beef. Rui looked meaningfully at the chef.

"And this... this as well... and this... oh, that looks yummy, I want this one too... and this..."

By the time Tsukushi had finished selecting what she wanted to eat, she had ended up with two plates that carried a sample of every single dish from the buffet table.

"Would you like me to help you carry it?" Rui offered, smiling radiantly at her. "Or would you like me to get you a drink?"

"There'd be no need for that," snapped Domyouji, shoving Rui out of the way as he stood in between them. Rui had outdone him in terms of impressing Tsukushi. The old feelings of one-sided rivalry were beginning to flare up - how he wished that he had thought of being nice to her to attract her attention instead of teasing her as he usually did! "_I'll_ carry it for her."

Domyouji grabbed the plates from Rui (having big hands, he managed to carry both plates in one hand), turned around to Tsukushi, grabbed her wrist, and said, "Let's go. I have people to introduce you to."

He marched quickly to get away from Rui's magnetism, dragging Tsukushi in tow.

"Where are we going? Who are you introducing me to?" asked Tsukushi as she struggled to keep up with Domyouji's brisk pace.

"Someone," said Domyouji vaguely. In reality, it was merely an excuse to get her away from Rui, but now that she was asking, he had better find someone to introduce her to. Noticing the fact that he was still carrying two plates, he said, "Actually, you better eat first."

He put the two plates down on one of the many tables set up across the lawn, and he and Tsukushi seated themselves at the table. The food now before her, she momentarily forgot about being concerned with the person to whom she was to be introduced to and sank her teeth into it.

Domyouji took this opportunity to make sure that Tsukushi was not to accept any more favours from Rui, and with this objective in mind, he had developed a realistic story to go with it.

_Sometimes, my own genius amazes me,_ smirked Domyouji, feeling very proud of himself. _Life is really unfair when there are some people who are as handsome, rich and clever as I am._

"Makino, you know that this is not only a birthday party, but this is also an event to attract publicity for the Domyouji empire," began Domyouji importantly, taking the opportunity for Tsukushi's mouth to be full so that she could not think of any clever and witty comebacks. "As a consequence of this, there will be paparazzi about. What would they say when they see the future Domyouji lady accepting favours from another man, and none other than the heir of the Hanazawa empire? You'll not only ruin _our_ reputation, but you'll ruin Rui's too!"

"He was just helping me with food," said Tsukushi, in between mouthfuls. "It's not like I'm doing anything awkward with him. Even if the paparazzi see it, they're not going to be able to write anything about it."

"Yes, they will! Imagine what they could say! 'Domyouji heir's wife accepts favours from Hanazawa heir!'" scowled Domyouji.

"Yeah, and all they'll see is him handing a plate of food to me!" retorted Tsukushi.

"This is what I hate about you commoners the most! You don't understand anything about the upper medallions of society, do you?"

"You mean echelons, right?" began Tsukushi, but then she noticed Domyouji's familiar, angry face, and understanding dawned upon her. She set down her fork and knife and smirked. "Oho. Don't tell me that you're _ jealous?_"

"Who'd be jealous about losing the malnourished commoner they love to a potent rival?" scoffed Domyouji, intending for it to be a witty comeback but unaware of the full meaning of what had slipped out of his mouth.

Tsukushi laughed, and resumed eating, having confirmed what she knew already.

"So, who were you going to introduce me to?" she asked nonchalantly, just to make sure it wasn't his mother. She remembered very well the last time he had introduced her to his mother at his own birthday party. Unpleasant would have been an underestimation of the fiasco.

"Uh," began Domyouji, remembering that he was supposed to introduce her to someone. He scanned the crowds, trying to find someone suitable to talk to, but realised that he didn't really want to speak to any of them either.

"Oh, well, he's gone. I can't see him anymore," he lied. Tsukushi, who had been scanning the crowds as well to see for herself who Domyouji wanted to introduce her to, breathed a sigh of relief. Frankly, she didn't want to join in this kind of culture. Having finished eating, she sat there contentedly with Domyouji by her side, watching the crowds mingle and guzzle champagne. It was then that she noticed someone there.

"Hey, look!" cried Tsukushi. "Isn't that Matsumoto Jun?!"

"Who's Matsumoto Jun?" glared Domyouji suspiciously, squinting at the crowd, trying to find who this person was. Whoever this man was, to get Tsukushi so excited, he was not a good man.

"He's this handsome star that I've had a crush on since junior high school! I can't believe I get to see him in person!" cried Tsukushi. "Oh, Yuki would be so jealous when she hears this! Have you got a pen and paper, Domyouji?"

"No, I don't!" snapped Domyouji, the jealousy written plainly all over his face. "And you're not going to get an autograph or any form of writing from him!"

"Why not?!" she seethed.

"No future Domyouji should be groveling at the feet of some B-list star to get an autograph!"

"Hey, he's not a B-list star, and I'm not groveling!" snapped Tsukushi.

_Moreover, how can you be so sure that I am going to be a future Domyouji? That wouldn't be for a few years, at the very least! I should get the freedom to do whatever I want!_

"I'm not a Domyouji yet, so I get to do whatever I want," declared Tsukushi. "And you're not stopping me."

"Fine," snapped Domyouji. "Do you want his autograph so badly?"

"Yes, I do!" she cried.

"And which one's Matsumoto Jun?"

"That man there with the curly hair," said Tsukushi, pointing.

"Wait for me here. Don't move."

Tsukushi watched as Domyouji walked towards the crowd, and tap Matsumoto Jun on the shoulder. For a moment, she feared he would punch him, but then he said something to him. Domyouji then took out a pen and paper from inside his jacket (Tsukushi had the feeling he was lying before when he said that he didn't have pen and paper), and handed it to him. Matsumoto Jun signed it with a smile, and Domyouji was soon back by Tsukushi's side.

"I don't see why you need some B-list star's autograph when you have the most handsome man in Japan as your boyfriend," said Domyouji gruffly as he shoved the piece of paper back to Tsukushi, trying to get it scrunched up in the process.

"Thank you, Domyouji," said Tsukushi, touched by his (if slightly childish) actions. Though he could be selfish at times, she realised that he had matured from the time she had first met him. Instead of only considering what he himself wanted the most - that is, Tsukushi - he had come to be considerate about what Tsukushi's feelings and what _she_ wanted. "You know, I can't imagine you asking anything from anyone. Usually, you'd just take what you want. So, how'd you ask him for it?"

She could imagine it now. He had probably said something like, "Give me your autograph, or else I'll kill you!"

The very thought of it made her giggle.

"What's so funny?!" scowled Domyouji.

"How'd you ask him?"

"I said that my girlfriend was a big fan of yours, and that she'd really love to have your autograph. He asked me what her name was, and then he signed it," shrugged Domyouji, as if it were no big deal.

Tsukushi smiled her thanks at him and opened the piece of paper.

"To my lovely malnourished commoner" read Tsukushi. "'With love, Matsujun.'"

Tsukushi turned and glared at him, as Domyouji smirked back at her. It felt like the old times when he played childish pranks on her.

"My name is not 'lovely malnourished commoner'," said Tsukushi bluntly.

"I told him that was your nickname," declared Domyouji triumphantly, as if he won this bout, or as if this was even a bout in the first place.

"I want one that says 'To my lovely Tsukushi'!"

"How about I sign one for you?" he said. "My autograph is worth at least ten of his."

"I don't want your signature!" cried Tsukushi. She was about to continue her tirade when she noticed another one of the stars she was a fan of.

"Isn't that Takumi from Trapnest? He's even more handsome in person than on his music videos!"

"Don't tell me you want me to get another autograph!" scowled Domyouji.

"I'll get it myself!" declared Tsukushi. But seeing how annoyed and jealous he looked, she decided to give up her pursuit of her favourite celebrities' autographs because it was hurting him. After all, he had made a sacrifice on his pride and dignity by getting Matsumoto Jun's autograph for her; was it not too hard for her to give up something so minor to stop hurting him? Tsukushi knew she had hurt him deeply on more than one count before.

"Never mind," she lied. "I don't like Takumi enough to want his autograph."

_Though I really want one from him saying 'My dearest Tsukushi',_ she thought inwardly, cringing at the opportunity she was missing out on.

"Good thing you came to your senses. I'm more handsome than them anyway." scoffed Domyouji. He then took her by the hand, and lead her back to the crowd. "Let's introduce you to some people. It's about time you made your debut properly, instead of being through some magazine."

As expected, many people soon came up to Domyouji, introducing themselves and enquiring politely about who this lovely lady with him was. With equal politeness, Domyouji introduced Tsukushi variably as his girlfriend or fiancée. It was soon spread through the people at the party that the young master of the Domyouji family was officially attached; his very own words were a confirmation of what had been printed as rumours in the media beforehand.

Tired of being introduced over and over to unfamiliar politicians, celebrities and other persons of influence, Tsukushi was grateful when Tsubaki, a familiar face, came up to her.

"Tsukushi dear! I've been looking all over for you!" cried Tsubaki, wrapping her in a hug. "How are you enjoying this party?"

"Good, thank you!" said Tsukushi, stifled in her hug. "Happy birthday, sister! I'm sorry, I didn't prepare a present because I don't know what you don't have..."

"Oh, Tsukushi, we're going to be family soon! Your presence is my present!" said Tsubaki, pulling her back and looking at her. "You look lovely tonight. The baby is getting rather big, isn't it?"

"Yes," muttered Tsukushi nonchalantly, hoping to avert the subject. She had talked about the baby bulge all night and intended not to speak of it any more..

"Anyway, I believe you have not met my husband yet? He flew in today to be with my for my birthday," said Tsubaki. It was then that Tsukushi noticed that Tsubaki was actually with another person. Her husband had such an insignificant aura about him that it was very hard to notice that he was actually there; and if he was with Tsubaki, he was more or less unnoticeable, hidden by Tsubaki's radiant presence. "Yasushi, this is Makino Tsukushi, my future sister. Tsukushi, this is my husband, Yasushi."

"Pleased to meet you," he said politely, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you too," said Tsukushi.

"Hello, Brother," said Domyouji, in the pleasantly polite tone that he reserved for people he needed to be polite to.

Tsukushi could now see why the feisty Tsubaki would not have fallen in love with this man initially. He was simply so plain, so demure and so boring - he looked like a typical salary man except that he was far richer than that. He did not look particularly special. He was just a polite, gentle and obliging man, one who quietly told Tsubaki that he would support her. She supposed that that was the reason that Tsubaki fell in love with him later on; he had been an unassuming pillar of strength for her during the times that she needed it.

Domyouji and his brother in law began a pleasant conversation, talking about things like the economy and other topics that Tsukushi could not understand. In the meantime, Tsubaki had once again begun checking on Tsukushi's condition.

"My, my, Tsukushi, you look absolutely gorgeous tonight!" declared Tsubaki.

"You look even better," blushed Tsukushi. Tsubaki looked as if she stepped right out of a glamour magazine.

"The little one has grown so big too!" cried Tsubaki, who had not really seen Tsukushi much over the past few months due to her various social commitments. "Do you know if it's a boy or girl now?"

"No, not really," replied Tsukushi truthfully.

"Keeping it a surprise, eh?" smiled Tsubaki, patting Tsukushi's stomach. "We had better start arranging a room for the baby, but I suppose that for now, you'd much rather have the baby with you in your room?"

"Yes," replied Tsukushi, trying to sound disinterested enough so that the topic would change.

"Excuse me," said Tsubaki's husband, giving Tsubaki a gentle tap on the shoulders. He turned and smiled apologetically at Tsukushi. "I'm sorry to break your conversation, but Tsubaki has to make a speech now. It has been nice meeting you, Miss Makino."

He gave a bow and retreated.

"Nice to meet you too," repeated Tsukushi. She couldn't help but feel surprised. He seemed more like a servant of the Domyouji household than a member of it.

"See you later, Tsukushi," said Tsubaki, giving her a wave.

She was, once again, left alone with Domyouji.

"There's one more person whom I'd like to introduce you to," said Domyouji.

"Who?" asked Tsukushi. _Did he have a mysterious third sibling?_

"My Mother."

"WHAT?!" cried Tsukushi. "No way! We don't need any more introducing to!"

Memories of their encounter at Domyouji's birthday party were still very clear in her head.

"I want to introduce you to her as my fiancée," said Domyouji seriously. "I want to set our relationship in stone before anything about the pregnancy being fake is exposed."

"We're not engaged!"

Domyouji sighed at how dense Tsukushi could sometimes be. He rummaged through his pocket, and then found it. It was a little velvet box. He opened it, and inside, was a stunning diamond ring.

He got down on a bended knee and said, "I knew it was stupid of me to ask you casually to marry me at that ramen shop without even giving you this. I'm going to do this seriously now. Makino, will you marry me?"

"I... I..."

Tsukushi was lost for words. Tears welled up in her eyes. A part of her, the part that needed and depended on Domyouji so much, knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life.

But inside her, another part, her independent streak, told her that she needed time before committing herself to be dependent on a man for the rest of her life. After all, she was not even twenty yet. She still had the rest of her life before her, and it had always been her dream to go to university and get a fulfilling career before staying at home full time to raise children.

A crowd had gathered around them, as Tsukushi stood there, too stunned for words, with Domyouji before her, presenting the ring on a bended knee. Tsukushi could not see them. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts.

_This will happen sooner or later anyway, Tsukushi. You know that, deep in your heart, you will be with him forever._

_But, I still want to go to university. I still want to have a job. If I commit myself to him now, I will probably depend on him for financial security for the rest of my life. I don't need a ring to affirm our eternal love._

_Ring or no ring, you will still be with him forever. You're with him right now, Tsukushi. You still have a job, and you still go to school despite him trying to pay for your every need. Nothing will change once you get married. You will still have a job, you will still go to university. You will rely on him only as much as you relied on him right now. More than anything, you need his emotional support, you need the type of support that no one else but he can provide. You need his companionship_.

_You need him._

By now, Domyouji was staring at Tsukushi, worried about her hesitation.

_Did she not want to marry me?_

Perhaps it had been too soon to ask her.

_Why do I always have to hurry things with Makino? Was I that worried that Mother will stop us before anything gets confirmed?_

"Makino, I don't want to rush you. I will wait-"

"I accept," said Tsukushi quietly. The tears that were threatening to spill were now rolling down her cheeks. So many times in the past, she had cried over Domyouji out of frustration, anger, and sadness. But this time, her tears were of pure joy. It was something she knew would happen in the end; so what if it happened sooner than she expected?

Life is full of surprises.

Domyouji's face was clearly stunned at her sudden acceptance as he gawked up at her in wonder. He got up and took the ring gently from its box. He took her hand in his, and slid the beautiful diamond ring over her ring finger.

Tsukushi gazed the ring on her left hand in wonder. It was so brilliant; so beautiful, so extravagant. She probably could not have afforded this ring even in a year. If her parents knew about this, they'd probably go into retirement already.

"A toast to the new couple!" cried Soujiro, who had been watching from the sidelines. Champagne glasses were passed around and there was the sound of clinking as everyone came to congratulate them.

"They're not new!" reprimanded Akira.

As more champagne was being poured, Domyouji whispered to Tsukushi, "Let's go and see Mother now."

"Right now? Can't we wait?" said Tsukushi, wiping the tears off her face. The thought of seeing Kaede was a bit daunting, even in her current numb state of bliss.

"You're going to have to face her sooner or later," scowled Domyouji. "It's more polite if you do it now!"

"Since when did you know anything about being polite?!" scoffed Tsukushi.

Akira, who had been watching them, laughed. It was back to normal now.

"Once I tell her that we're engaged, there's no way that she can stop us anymore," said Domyouji. "Even after she finds out that you weren't pregnant."

"Let me go freshen my face first, okay?" said Tsukushi, trying to procrastinate a little further. The dried tears were now sticking to her face uncomfortably. She would have to see Kaede sooner or later, and it was probably good manners for her to go now.

She made her way back up to the Domyouji mansion, as Tsubaki's voice resonated through the lawn.

"_Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! How are we all? Enjoying yourselves?_"

There was an indecipherable murmur from the crowds.

She couldn't believe that it had only been a moment ago when Tsubaki's husband had told her to prepare to make a speech. It felt like a million years. Time seemed to have frozen when Domyouji proposed to her. The ring now sat on her ring finger as a familiar and comfortable presence, as if it had always been on her hand.

"_I would like to thank you all for coming. It's been a great pleasure to see you all here tonight, celebrating my years with me!_"

Tsukushi walked along the tiny path flanked by rose bushes towards one of the entrances of the Domyouji mansion. The rose bushes, which had been watered during the day, were like splendid creations at night. The paths were slightly soaked from the watering that the gardeners had been doing during the day. Tsukushi made sure to trudge carefully over it, but it was too hard. The combination of a wet floor, stilettos far too high and a heavy stomach strapped to her front made her lose her balance and slip.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" cried Tsukushi, landing heavily on her posterior with a dull thud. It hurt; pain signals were shooting up from her butt towards her brain.

"_... I would also like to thank you all for your - OH MY GOODNESS, is that you, Tsukushi?! Tsukushi!_"

A panicked murmur rose from the crowds.

_Did I scream so loudly for Sister to hear me?_ thought Tsukushi incoherently as she tried to get up. But it was too hard; the sheer size of the stomach weighed down heavily on her, and the stilettos made it very hard for her to leap to her feet. It was then that she noticed that her left ankle was becoming quite swollen, and it felt quite painful too.

_Crap, did I twist my ankle too?_ thought Tsukushi. _ I shouldn't have worn something that high._

She made another attempt to get up, but it was too hard now that she was feeling not one but two sources of pain. She resorted to lying there on her back as some people from the party, alerted to her location from her scream, found her.

"Oww... owww..." she groaned, her attempt at getting up exacerbating her pain.

The first people to find her were, thankfully, the F4. Upon seeing her lying spread-eagled on the floor, her stomach rising from her like a mountain, Rui couldn't help but try to stifle his giggles. Soujiro and Akira made no qualms about it and burst into laughter. Domyouji's eyebrow twitched at how embarrassing yet inviting Tsukushi's position was.

"Owww, owww," moaned Tsukushi. "It hurts..."

Domyouji gawked at her, the blood dripping from his nose.

"Stop lying there moaning sexily!" he yelled, his face flushing up, stunned at how attractive Tsukushi was while sprawled on the ground in a position what many others perceived to be comical than sexy.

"I'm not moaning sexily," wailed Tsukushi. "But it really hurts!"

Domyouji, finding it hard to resist his temptations, was about to lift her up into a less compromising position when Tsubaki came rushing towards them, trailed by her husband, Tama, Kaede and a plethora of unknown supporting characters.

"Tsukushi! Tsukushi! Are you alright?!" wailed Tsubaki.

"It hurts..." moaned Tsukushi, rubbing her ankle.

Tsubaki looked from the puddle of water (that made her slip) in between her legs to Tsukushi, who was moaning in pain while bent in a position that looked more as if she was holding her stomach rather than rubbing her ankle.

It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

"Oh my goodness! The amniotic fluid is leaking! She's about to go into labour!"

The crowd that was surrounding her gasped and murmured in surprise.

"No, I'm not!" wailed Tsukushi, who had no idea what amniotic fluid was.

"She's not!" added Domyouji helpfully. Tsubaki gave him a dirty look.

"Everyone, move out of the way, give her some breathing space! Tama, call an ambulance!"

The crowd obliged and gave her more room. Tama nodded and hobbled surprisingly quickly back towards the house.

"I don't want to go to a hospital," cried Tsukushi, pain searing her ankle and bum.

"It can't be helped, Tsukushi dear, we don't have an obstetrician at home," said Tsubaki gently, wiping the sweat that had resulted from Tsukushi's panic off her face. Tsubaki understood the sweat to be from the activity being induced by labour.

"You can't take her to the hospital!" said Domyouji helpfully.

"Says who?!" cried Tsubaki, flaring up.

"You can't, because..." began Domyouji.

"... She's scared of hospitals," said Soujiro. "Isn't that right, Tsukushi? Hospitalophobia!"

He had hoped that a big word that sounded like a scientific term would be enough to stop Tsubaki sending Tsukushi to the hospital, but clearly, it wasn't enough. Tsubaki was giving him a weird look as if he had just spoken jibberish.

"Yeah, I'm scared!" cried Tsukushi. _I'm scared of being found out!_

"She doesn't have health insurance," added Rui, as if _that _would stop Tsubaki taking her to the hospital.

"I'm sorry, Sister," wailed Tsukushi. "Please don't ruin your birthday party for my sake! Go on, continue it! Don't worry about me, I'm fine!"

"I don't care!" cried Tsubaki. "I'm not letting anything hinder the birth of my nephew!"

Tsukushi looked haplessly at the F4, trying to send them desperate eye signals. She knew they were all thinking the same thing; that is, to stop her going to the hospital at all costs, but persuading Tsubaki to do so was hard since she was absolutely resolute about Tsukushi getting the best treatment in hospital. Try as they might, the F4 were unsuccessful in stopping Tsubaki. As expected, their excuses were weak and unjustifiable.

The ambulance soon arrived, and Tsukushi was loaded into it, all the while moaning, "It hurts!" and "I don't want to go to hospital!"

Domyouji and Tsubaki got in after her, but before they left, Rui said, "Tsukasa, we will be following you. Keep in touch!"

Domyouji nodded, acknowledging the support of his friends. He gave them a grim look as the doors of the ambulance closed on them, and with sirens blaring, the ambulance drove out of the gates of the Domyouji estate, leaving the guests stunned by this new development.

"Let's go," said Rui, leading Soujiro and Akira to his car. Soujiro and Akira looked at each other worriedly, wondering whether to get into Rui's car or if they should wait for their chauffeurs. But desperate times called for desperate measures. They were heading towards where Rui's car was parked when they noticed one of the Domyouji family SPs standing at the door of a limousine, talking to someone in it.

"President, it seems like this will come to an end. We will find out the truth soon."

The man then closed the door and the limousine drove off.

"We'd better get going if we don't want the truth exposed," whispered Akira, as they got into Rui's car. "We're going to have to intercept her limousine at all costs."

"We will," said Rui, turning on the ignition.

Without waiting to be asked, Akira and Soujiro quickly buckled their seatbelts. Rui stepped on the accelerator and they sped off after the limousine.

* * *

Next chapter: Tsukushi and Domyouji are at the hospital! How are they going to put off the birth of the child? What are they going to do! Stay tuned as Family Planning draws to a close! 

Yep, it's about to draw to a close. THE END IS NIGH! BWHAHAHA. I've been planning this end for a while now so I can start on something new! Keep reading my profile for updates :) Cheers!

PS: Merry (belated) Christmas! I finished this chapter on Boxing Day, but I don't know when this will be uploaded. It's NYE now... so, here's wishing that 2007 will be better than 2006!


	18. The miscarriage

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except the plot. :)

A bulky final chapter for you!

Sorry for the long time it's taken to update, but I have been rather busy :S

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Chapter Eighteen: The miscarriage

* * *

"We've got to stop her," declared Soujiro chivalrously, as they sped down the road. By driving over a fair bit over the speed limit, Rui had finally caught up to the black limousine carrying Kaede towards the hospital, and they were now only a few metres behind it in the lane next to it.

"Talk about master of the obvious," muttered Akira darkly, hanging onto the seat for dear life.

"We'll stop her," said Rui stoutly.

"No matter how much I think, there's no way we can! She's already halfway there!" cried Soujiro desperately.

"You can't, but I can," said Rui. It was then that Soujiro and Akira realised what Rui can do that they can't.

Rui suddenly accelerated even faster than they had been going before, and turned the car abruptly towards the lane where Kaede's limousine was traveling. The car skidded into the next lane with the smell of burning tires, and Rui then suddenly braked the car such that it was spread across the lane. With no time to stop, Kaede's limousine collided straight into the side of Rui's car, leaving a large dent on the side, and the car was flung a few metres down the road due to the impact.

There was a moment's silence as the two cars skidded along the road. Then Soujiro suddenly regained his voice.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?!" he screamed, his hand placed over his chest as if it would slow down the heart beat and the adrenaline being pumped throughout his body.

"You... you weren't thinking of stopping her by _killing_ her, were you?" gasped Akira.

"Well," began Rui, as if he had actually entertained such thoughts. Then he paused for a moment, before he turned to them, smiling pleasantly, "At least we delayed her!"

"Yeah, you sure did," muttered Soujiro. "You almost killed _us_ delaying _her_."

The police and an ambulance soon arrived on the scene, probably alerted by some dutiful citizens. As they sat on the roadside, being treated by the paramedics for some minor injuries (Akira's forehead was bleeding, Rui had a bruise on his cheek and Soujiro had broken his nose), Kaede, who, despite the crash was only slightly ruffled, walked up to them, not looking very pleased.

"As I would have expected," she said, staring down at them. "Young master Hanazawa, have you not been taught how to drive properly? I would have thought that the Hanazawa family would be able to afford a chauffer for you."

Her cold aura seemed to have swept any comeback they may have been thinking of. The three of them merely chose to stare at her in disdain.

"And young masters Nishikaido and Mimasaka. How very embarrassing it would be for your families to know that you were in a car accident after attempting to kill someone. What were you trying to stop me from?"

"We weren't trying to kill you," lied Rui evasively. "Please don't use such harsh words."

"As an acquaintance of your parents, it is in my best intentions that you do not stray from the path that you have been so fortunately set by your families," stated Kaede coldly.

A paramedic then came up to her and bustled her back to the side of the road to check if there was anything broken. Tama, Nishida and her chauffer, who were also in her limousine, had already been bandaged up, with her chauffer suffering the more severe of the injuries. The seven of them were soon sent off to the hospital in two ambulances for further observations.

"You know," whispered Akira to Soujiro as they sat inside the ambulance, while the paramedic continued to bandage a newly discovered wound on Rui's arm. "This wasn't what we hoped for. We're going to the hospital at top speed here. This is kind of like nullifying our sacrifice."

* * *

The ambulance carrying the Tsukushi party finally arrived at hospital. Tsukushi was wheeled in on a wheelchair by a paramedic while Domyouji and Tsubaki walked grimly by her side. While the nurse was busy taking Tsukushi's vital observations, Tsubaki started completing some of the paperwork involved with a ride in the ambulance. After moaning about not wanting to go to the hospital for the entire trip there, Tsukushi finally found out that complaining more and more would not stop her getting to the hospital and gave up.

While the nurse was busy recording down Tsukushi's blood pressure, Tsukushi hissed to Domyouji, "We're in a tight spot here."

"Tell me something I don't know," mumbled Domyouji darkly.

"And it's all your fault too," she hissed. "If you didn't push for this stupid plan, none of this would have happened."

"What's done is done," he hissed back. "It's not like we can change anything now."

"We should just tell them the truth!" muttered Tsukushi.

"Not before Mother accepts our engagement!" he hissed, as there happened to be a lot of hissing going on. "We need this 'pregnancy' to be _the_ reason for her to accept you!"

Tsukushi paused. That was correct, wasn't it? The trouble she had gone through with this plan, the burden of wearing that fake tummy, was all a plan from the beginning for Domyouji's mother to accept her. Despite her protests that she wanted to go to University and get a job, deep down, she knew that she desired to be with Domyouji for the rest of her life. She _could_ have resisted more with the plan; she _could _have refused to wear the tummy. But yet, she did - because she knew that secretly, she wanted to be able to marry him. Marriage would not mean that she could not go to University or get a job; marriage did not mean that she would have to have kids right now.

"Fine..." began Tsukushi. "Then you'd better delay this even further while we think of another plan to stop the truth being leaked."

Domyouji, for a moment, simply smirked. Then, smiling wanly at her, he said. "The Makino I know shouldn't give up that easily. But since I'm such a genius, I've thought of a way out."

"Like?"

"LIKE THIS!" he declared, suddenly jumping up and kicking the nurse that was now taking Tsukushi's temperature. The nurse was knocked back and sent slamming to the floor, passing out from the blow given by Domyouji's monstrous strength.

"Domyouji!" gasped Tsukushi, surprised at his sudden violence, which she had thought she put an end to so long ago. Tsubaki and some medical staff heard the commotion and rushed over.

"What's going on?" demanded Tsubaki, noticing the nurse lying on the floor and Domyouji, who had taken command of the wheelchair.

"Sorry, Sister," said Domyouji tersely. He grabbed the handlebars of Tsukushi's wheelchair and bolted straight down the corridor and disappeared around the corner.

"Hey! Tsukasa!" cried Tsubaki, rushing after him in her dangerously high stilettos. "What the hell are you thinking? You're going to hurt Tsukushi!"

Despite having often worn high heels for much of her life, Tsubaki had never run in them before. After taking a few steps, she found it quite painful to continue running as such, and by the time she limped to the lift lobby that Domyouji was last seen disappearing into, there was no trace of either him or Tsukushi there.

"That jerk," she muttered darkly, rubbing her sore, twisted ankle as the medical and security staff with her looked around questioningly at each other. "What the hell was he thinking? Oooh... just he wait! I'm going to teach him one hell of a lesson when he gets back!"

With a murderous look on her face, she made her way back to the waiting area whilst grabbing onto the walls for support, and had sat there for half an hour thinking about how to punish Tsukasa when Kaede, Tama, Nishida, and the F3 party arrived.

"Mother? What are you doing here?" cried Tsubaki, surprised. Kaede was not the type to go see her son face to face even if he was in a critical condition. But then she noticed the vehicle that her mother had arrived in; not a grand limousine but an ambulance. Strangely, her Mother looked a bit ruffled too. "And... why in an ambulance?"

"Tsukasa has friends who are inept at driving," stated Kaede coldly, purposely not elaborating on what she had said to them on the roadside. The F3, all with various bandages on their faces, merely looked back at her as defiantly as they could.

"Young Miss," said Tama, hobbling over to where Tsubaki was sitting, rubbing on her sore ankles. "Tsukushi... how is she?"

"Where's Tsukasa?" asked Rui, butting in.

"Argh! Don't remind me of that foolish fool who only thinks of foolish thoughts!" screamed Tsubaki, tearing her hair in frustration. "That twerp! He just suddenly attacked a nurse and ran off with Tsukushi! He doesn't know what kind of danger he's putting her in!"

"Do you know where he went?" asked Soujiro hopefully.

_If he ran off like this, then they were just a little further off from finding the truth. All they need is a little bit more time,_ he thought.

"I tried running after them, but I twisted my ankle on the way. I only made it as far as where the lifts were," she sighed, feeling as if she had failed in saving Tsukushi and the baby. She did not notice the suspiciously hopeful look Soujiro had.

"Sister, we're going to go find him, okay?" said Akira reassuringly, patting her hand and smiling charmingly. After all, he_ did_ have a thing for older, married women."We'll bring him back to you!"

_We'd better find him first before other people find him,_ Akira thought. _We have to inform him of what we heard his mother say._

Despite the protests of the nurses who were about to begin treating the rest of their wounds, and the protests of Tsubaki who was worried about them exacerbating their injuries, the F3 sprinted down towards the lifts where Tsubaki said she had last seen them.

"Nishida," commanded Kaede as she watched the F3 run off. "Find Tsukasa."

"Yes, President," said Nishida, as he bowed and retreated from her sight.

* * *

"Argh, man," groaned Soujiro, holding the split in his side from running so quickly. "We should've got ourselves treated before we rushed off like this."

"No time," said Akira, leaning against the wall of the elevator. "We have to warn him that his mother suspects him before she corners him."

"Where are we going now?" asked Rui helpfully.

"Oh yeah. Where _are _we going?" asked Soujiro, perplexed. Their chivalrous rush to aid their fallen comrade was all an act; the truth was, they really had no idea where to start.

"Let's call Tsukasa and see where he is first," stated Rui, pulling out his phone. "Then we can find him."

"Good call, Rui!" said Akira, slapping Rui jovially on the back (Rui winced and shot Akira a dirty look) as he dialed Tsukasa's number. It was a good thing that they had a friend that did what was obvious first.

"Any news?" asked Soujiro hopefully.

"Nope," sighed Rui, twirling the strap of his phone between his long fingers. "His phone is off."

"That idiot! We told him we'd keep in touch! How about Makino? He ran off with Makino, right?"

Rui dialed again.

"Her phone is off as well. Probably out of money," he said, shaking his head and pocketing his phone.

"Great," sighed Soujiro. "That makes the job so much easier for us."

"Guess we'll just go floor by floor and ask if anyone has seen them," said Akira, pressing the button to the first floor.

As if by some strange twist of fate, the first floor happened to be where the maternity ward, the birthing suite and the pediatric ward was located.

"I kind of get the feeling that whoever created the hospital is laughing at us right now," muttered Soujiro darkly, frowning at the sign with the arrow pointing to the direction of the maternity ward. "As if Makino would hide in the maternity ward."

"The safest place is probably the least obvious," said Rui. "No one would think that Makino would hide in the maternity ward, so if anyone else is looking for her, they'd probably disregard that as her hideout."

"Good, well, let's go!" said Akira, marching confidently into the wide open doors of the maternity ward.

Although they had hoped to blend in and search each room of the ward discretely for Domyouji and Tsukushi, they soon found that it was a near impossible task. As Rui pointed out to them as they entered, it was way past visiting hours and the only people who were roaming around freely without looking suspicious were the nurses. In fact, apart from them, there were no other visitors that night.

"We'll creep in, okay?" whispered Soujiro.

"We don't need to look more suspicious than we already are," said Akira firmly. "Act like we're meant to be here, okay?"

Akira walked up confidently to the nurse's station.

"Good evening, miss," he said, smiling his most winning smile.

"Oh, um, hello," said the nurse shyly, upon seeing Akira with his most radiant smile.

"I'm here to enquire about my brother's wife. I hear that she was just admitted to hospital because she was about to give birth. Has anyone come in in the past two hours?" he said, beaming so radiantly that Soujiro thought that he was sparkling.

"Oh, I... um," said the nurse, entranced by his brilliance. "Um, what does she look like?"

"Well, she's pregnant," began Akira. "And um... she's short like a dwarf, has limp brown hair, and usually looks malnourished. But the most distinguishing feature is that she has a _really flat chest_."

"Actually," corrected Rui, pushing Akira aside. "She's small, has silky brown hair, and would be slim if she wasn't pregnant. As for the chest - I suppose I can't think of a rebuttal to that one."

"Well, uh, no- " began the young nurse.

"-Who are you looking for?" finished a much sterner voice. There was an older and crabbier matron standing behind the young and easily seduced nurse, who looked very annoyed that her younger counterpart could not withstand the attack of suspicious young men.

"I was just wondering if-" began Akira, smiling radiantly at her, but her frown did not quiver. Clearly, she was a hard one to crack; she was suspicious of three young men coming to the maternity ward at night; she would not easily fall prey to the likes of Akira and Soujiro.

"Name of the person you are looking for?" barked the matron.

"Her name is -" Akira turned to look at Soujiro. Soujiro shook his head. They did not need to alert any more people of Domyouji and Tsukushi's disappearing act and have more people competing to find them first. "Actually, never mind, I might have gotten the wrong hospital."

The three of them left before the matron could question them any further. Back in the lobby of the first floor, they bemoaned their failure.

"No good," sighed Akira, leaning against the wall and sliding down on it. "I thought I had it nailed there."

"We're not going to be able to get information from any other wards while we look so suspicious," said Soujiro, looking around to each one of them in their dinner suits. "We have to at least look like a part of the staff in order to gain information without suspicion."

"That matron had a very keen intuition," said Rui helpfully.

"Don't remind us." muttered Akira. It was the first time he had failed in seducing an older woman.

"At least we know that she's not in there," said Soujiro. "The nurse said no new people came in in the past two hours before we were interrupted. But how are we to go to the other wards to get information like this?"

"I suppose we should ... look like someone you can give information freely to," said Akira.

"Perhaps, like a doctor?" suggested Soujiro.

"Ha ha ha," snorted Akira. "Where do you think we can get stuff to dress like doctors? We're not Shigeru, we can't pull costumes out of thin air."

Almost as if by divine intervention, three doctors came out of a descending lift, chatting about something in low tones. Soujiro stared at them for a little while before his lips twisted into a sly smile.

"I have an idea," he grinned.

Akira noticed what Soujiro was staring at. Looking back from the group of doctors to Soujiro with his evil expression, Akira could tell exactly what Soujiro was thinking. Rui simply stood there, wondering what Squire's idea could be.

"Uh, Soujiro, you aren't going to-" began Akira, trying to stop Soujiro, but it was too late. Soujiro had already marched up to the doctors with a worried expression on his face.

"Sirs!" cried Soujiro, very much like a submissive servant. "I... I just saw a woman lying on the ground, unconscious!"

_What a great actor,_ thought Akira darkly._ Perhaps he's too good. I can see how he keeps winning girls over._

"What?!" cried one of the doctors, aghast. "Whereabouts?!"

"Over there, sirs," said Soujiro, pointing towards a long, dark corridor conveniently placed there for the purpose of this story. "I heard really erratic breathing too!"

"Let's go!" cried the second doctor. As the three doctors rushed valiantly to the aid of the 'unconscious woman' in the direction that Soujiro had pointed out, Soujiro turned and waved for Akira and Rui to follow him, looking very cunning indeed. In fact, he looked so cunning that Akira nearly thought Soujiro looked like a wolf about to devour little girls.

"Oh my goodness," muttered Akira grimly. "He isn't seriously going to do it, is he?"

Regardless of Akira's moral qualms, however, the F3 disappeared into the dark corridor. Some muffled protests could be heard, and five minutes later, Soujiro, Akira and Rui emerged dressed as doctors.

"There," said Soujiro, adjusting the tie he had just acquired from the doctor.. "Now that we look like doctors, no one is going to question us when we demand information."

"But, do you think that that was the right thing to do, beating up doctors for their clothes?" sighed Akira, rolling up the sleeves of the blouse that he just took (they were a bit too short). He had moral qualms about beating up three doctors for such an ulterior motive. "Because of us, they're now lying unconscious _and_ tied up in some dark corridor. What if some patient dies because those doctors were not there to save them? It would all be our fault!"

"But we're off to save someone else's life, so it's alright," justified Soujiro.

"Giving thema warning_ isn't_ saving their life," corrected Akira.

"It's close to it," reasoned Soujiro.

"What if we get asked to give an expert opinion on a patient? What are_ you_ going to say?" said Akira.  
_  
_"I'll make up something when the time comes," teased Soujiro, flicking Akira's head playfully. Rui could almost swear that there was something going on between them. "Look what we even got! Their ID cards! We can probably get access to areas that are off limits to visitors!"

"Hmm," said Akira. "We'd better memories these names in case anyone asks us who we are, though, in all honesty, I look nothing like Dr. Abe Tsuyoshi here."

"I'm Dr. Matsuda Shota," said Soujiro, flashing a brilliant smile Akira and Rui, both of whom failed to swoon.

"Dr. Oguri Shun," said Rui, looking at his ID card in fascination.

"Let's get going then. To the next ward!" declared Akira.

Armed with their attire, stethoscope and identity cards that they had gained from the three doctors, the F3 sauntered into the next ward where Tsukushi and Domyouji _could_ be with a newfound confidence. However, neither Tsukushi nor Domyouji were to be found. They attempted to find them at the next ward where there was still no sign of Domyouji or Tsukushi. Progressively, they went to each ward; yet they were still not to be found. The F3 soon found their confidence waning.

"It's no use," sighed Soujiro, collapsing against the wall outside the renal dialysis ward.

"If only they'd turned on their phones, they would've made our jobs so much easier," lamented Akira woefully.

Just as they were about to give up, however, Rui's phone suddenly started ringing.

"Hello, Tsukasa," said Rui.

"Where the hell are you guys?!" demanded Domyouji by way of greeting, as if it were their fault that they couldn't be contacted.

"We're on the 6th floor of the hospital looking for you," replied Rui calmly, either by accident or purposely ignoring his tone.

"I'll have to explain this to you later, but Makino just got taken by the SPs!"

"What?" said Rui. The sudden change in the tone of his voice startled Akira and Soujiro. "Where'd they take Makino?"

"Who knows?" muttered Domyouji darkly. "But my guess is the maternity ward, if they're expecting Makino to give birth."

Rui found his feet automatically running down towards the lift lobby and slamming the 'down' button, and Soujiro and Akira bolted right after him. As he made his way to the maternity ward, he heard the rest of Domyouji's sorry story.

After running away from the medical staff in the emergency ward, Domyouji had ditched the wheelchair that Tsukushi was sitting on in the lift lobby. Together, they hid inside the medical records room which they found to be conveniently unlocked. After hiding for a while, however, Domyouji felt nature calling him, and thinking that Tsukushi should be safe inside there while he took a short and well deserved break, he made his way to the toilet. It was then that two SPs walked by and saw him coming out of the room; when he came back from the toilet, he saw them dragging Tsukushi out while she put up a brave fight (like the girl he knew and loved).

Domyouji too, joined the fray, but as one SP held him off, the other one had made his escape with Tsukushi. Domyouji had ended up beating the SP that was left with him, and he had run around the hospital like a frantic, headless chicken looking for Tsukushi. It was then that he had the idea of calling up Rui to enlist his help.

_This is not looking good_, thought Rui, as he finally made his way back to the maternity ward. Fearing the worse for Tsukushi, he rushed past the nurse station without being stopped by them (he was, after all, still in his doctor's attire) before realising that they did not know where Tsukushi's room was.

Bolting back to the nurse's station, he hurried up to the counter and breathed, "Makino."

"I beg your pardon?" blinked the matron, who had long forgotten that the three young men in front of her were the three scoundrels that she had earlier shooed away, thanks to the clothes that Soujiro had forcefully taken from the doctors.

"Where... where's Makino?" he said quickly.

"Makino? Oh, you mean that girl that just came in? She was screaming, I think she's about to give birth."

"Where is she?" said Rui in a demanding tone, feeling his patience running dry with this woman.

"The birthing suite... sheez, young people these days, no manners at all..." muttered the matron, as Rui ran towards where the birthing suite. He pushed open the door to find everyone assembled around Tsukushi, who was lying on the hospital bed - _without a baby bulge_.

The atmosphere there was intensely gloomy. Kaede had a cold look and Domyouji looked dark and murderous. Tsubaki and Tama looked almost woeful. Tsukushi had pursed her lips, looking grim.

For a second, the F3 stood there silently, observing the scene, wondering what exactly had happened.

Not knowing what else to do, Soujiro broke the silence.

"So, what's up, sunshine?" he said brightly, grinning broadly. "Did you have a miscarriage or something?"

Rui and Akira turned and scowled at him. Soujiro sent them a hurt I'm-merely-trying-to-cover-for-them look.

"Give it up, Soujiro," snapped Domyouji.

Soujiro felt crushed. Here he was, sticking up for his friends at the expense of his own dignity, and he gets a double whammy from them.

"I'm going to tell them the truth," sighed Tsukushi resolutely. "There's no need to cover up for me anymore."

Soujiro felt totally owned.

"Now that everyone is here," said Tsukushi, "I think it's time that I told you the whole truth."

Tama and Tsubaki's eyes widened in surprise. From their woeful looks, one could almost guess that they had really thought it was a miscarriage.

"The thing is... I'm not pregnant. At all."

Domyouji pulled out the large, hollow, fake stomach from behind the bed (out of sight from everyone). Tsubaki and Tama gasped while Kaede looked as cold as she did before; except now, her face was marred with a twinge of triumph.

Tsukushi then dove into their sad and sordid tale of how they did it - how it had all been Domyouji's idea; how he 'accidentally' let slip to Soujiro and Akira that she was pregnant; how they had researched up on this; and how they put up with it for the next nine months. The more she told them about it, the more horrible she felt inside; she had caught a glimpse of Tsubaki out the corner of her eye, and the disappointment plainly written across her face stung her. Tsukushi would have preferred Tsubaki to be angry with her for lying to her; yet, her crushed look simply hurt.

"Why, Tsukushi?" asked Tsubaki, looking terribly sad.

"It...it's because..." began Tsukushi, trying to avoid Tsubaki's sad face.

Did she dare to tell them the real reason?

The real reason - that Domyouji wanted to trick his mother into believing that she was pregnant so that they could get married?

"... it's because I want to marry her," finished Domyouji coldly, looking particularly at his mother.

"And so, you let your logic be thrown into disarray by nothing less than a lower class commoner? You let her seduce you into such a foolish plan that could easily have tainted to Domyouji name into disrepute?" stated Kaede evenly, holding her ground.

"It wasn't Makino's fault. The idea was all mine," said Domyouji smoothly, looking slightly proud that it was all his plan even in such a situation. "She kept refusing to follow this brilliant plan because-" Domyouji paused, and frowned. "-she thought it was stupid."

"Don't blame her," piqued Soujiro. "We were the ones who purposely spread the rumours against her will."

"Yet she went along and wore the stomach for a whole nine months?" enquired Kaede coldly, raising her eyebrow.

Tsukushi felt herself flush angrily, though she had, in the end, went along with their silly plan.

"She only did it when there was no way out of it," sighed Domyouji, looking _almost_ apologetic for forcing her into this. However, his face hardened as he looked back at his mother. "Mother..."

For a moment, his voice sounded choked up, but then he pulled himself together.

"... I love Makino. And I _will_ marry her," he said firmly.

While Tsukushi expected Soujiro and Akira to whoop and cheer for their friend, the room fell eerily silent as all eyes turned to Kaede to see what her reply would be. None, however, had a more intense gaze as Domyouji did.

"I've said before," began Kaede slowly, "That you can pretend that I am dead for a year."

This was not the response that Tsukushi had been expecting - she had been so sure that Kaede will refuse with absolute certainty.

"And that year that I am dead is not over yet," she finished.

All eyes widened in surprise. Anything she said that was not an absolute refusal certainly had an element of acceptance in it, which Tsubaki immediately caught onto. She gave a little gasp and gave Tama a quick high-five.

"So you... approve of this?" said Domyouji cautiously.

"Don't get me wrong," she replied sternly, "I do not approve of it. That said, however, I cannot refuse your request. Your little stunt has made far too much damage on the Domyouji Enterprises reputation for me to salvage."

"Damage?" enquired Tsubaki.

"Your so called pregnancy has been given far too much publicity than it deserves. Miss Makino's face is now associated with the Domyouji family, and the public is expecting a baby soon. Because of this baby news, the reputation of Domyouji Enterprises has soared, and we have become greatly popular with the masses because of a fresh, young face. If the news that you were faking a pregnancy were to leak, it will damage Domyouji Enterprises beyond repair, and have many legal repercussions."

"So, you'll allow us to get married, because of this?" replied Domyouji hollowly.

"I will allow you to marry on the condition that you will never tell of the pregnancy being fake," said Kaede harshly. "It was a good thing that I suspected its authenticity before the public did."

Although it was not the full, enthusiastic seal of approval that Domyouji had wanted, an acceptance by Kaede was nonetheless welcomed.

"Deal," said Domyouji.

Tsukushi felt strangely hollow despite this victory. So they had won.

But Domyouji was going to be leaving her side for New York - for four years.

* * *

New about Tsukushi's pregnancy soon started reemerging in the media. As far as Tsukushi could see, Kaede had summoned all her powers and suppressed news of the pregnancy being fake. Instead, all reports stated that it was a still birth and public sympathy for the Domyouji family soared. Mama and Papa wept at their lost grandchild. Tsukushi had decided that it was far better to hide the truth from them, that there was no grandchild in the first place. Articles expressing condolences appeared, and Tsukushi found herself, once again, inundated with the 'well wishes' of the Eitoku crowd.

But for once, she did not care about how fake they were. All she cared about was every precious minute she had now to spend with Domyouji before he left for New York.

She now realised how much she needed him, and knew that the next four years without him by her side would be unbearable. It was inevitable that she should marry him - for how else would the rest of her life be bearable, if he were not by her side?

The dreaded day soon came, and Domyouji, with a single piece of hand luggage, was saying his final goodbyes to her. They had managed to escape their friends for a private moment together before his flight was due to start boarding.

"I guess this is it," sighed Tsukushi, averting her gaze from him. "Goodbye."

"What do you mean, goodbye?" teased Domyouji. "It's supposed to be 'see you soon', you dumb woman."

"How is four years supposed to be soon?!" cried Tsukushi. "You're going to be ... gone ... for four years. And I won't see you... and..."

She found that she really wanted to cry, but her strong will refused to give in.

"Argh! Why do I have to cry over this stupid idiot?!" she said aloud, blinking back her tears.

"Hey, I heard that," scolded Domyouji. "And you have perfect reason to cry."

"Give me one good reason first!" demanded Tsukushi, feeling the tears start to trickle out the corner of her eyes. "I don't want to waste my tears over someone who gets his vocabulary mixed up!"

Domyouji laughed. He dropped his luggage onto the floor and wrapped his arms around her as she sniffled into his expensive coat, soaking it. Stroking her hair, he pulled it back as he bent down and whispered.

"It's because you'll be marrying this stupid idiot."

* * *

**The end!**

**Or is it... **

**Next chapter - the grand finale - the epilogue!**

"What? There's a next chapter?" cried Tsukushi, staring at the bit of text on this screen. "I was sort of hoping it would be the end of this sorry story!"

"It's not really a chapter," said Rui. "It's more an epilogue."

"What's the point of that?" scowled Domyouji, who had no idea what an epilogue is.

"Sort of like a final, final ending," said Rui, knowing Domyouji's ill-disguised question was one of ignorance. "I suppose there are still some loose ends to be tied, but the last chapter isn't particularly essential to the story."

"I hear it could be read as a standalone!" piqued Soujiro, appearing out of nowhere.

"How'd you know?" gasped Tsukushi, surprised. After all, she was the protagonist, and _she_ certainly didn't hear anything about that.

"I know everything," replied Soujiro mysteriously. "They don't call me the gossip queen for nothing."

"Stay tuned for the epilogue," said Rui to nobody in particular. "Happily ever after."


	19. Epilogue: Happily ever after

Author's Note: My final, final ending! Thank you all for bearing with me!

Disclaimer: Hana Yori Dango does not belong to me! But the plot of this fanfic does.

* * *

**Family Planning**

By Onkiu

Epilogue: Happily ever after

* * *

It had been four years since the disaster that the F4 still recall fondly as The Miscarriage. It had, quite luckily for them, turned out so well. Although Kaede, even after four years, had not fully accepted Tsukushi as a member of the Domyouji family, she had come to be less disapproving of her, which, to them was a sign that Kaede just _might _be warming to Tsukushi. 

Tsukushi had been waiting earnestly for the day that Domyouji would return from New York, but the day came without her knowing it. For one thing, she only knew it was around this time of the year that he would return. For another, she was so busy with her own graduation and kickstarting her own career that the day arrived without her realising that it did.

Domyouji had planned to surprise her by suddenly appearing at her door at midnight with one thousand roses and a wedding ring. It worked very well, indeed, for Tsukushi looked so shocked that she was about to burst into tears from all that emotion; but Domyouji soon found out that she wanted to cry because she was dressed most uncouthly in her pajamas when she had greeted him at the door, and she had wanted to look her best when she welcomed him back to Japan.

Soon, their wedding plans went underway -- and soon, their long-missed arguments resumed. Domyouji wanted a lavish wedding on par with a royal wedding; Tsukushi wanted something simpler and smaller for close family and friends. In the end, they made a compromise for a smaller but lavish wedding that not only included close family and friends, but Domyouji's business associates, since he, after all, was a very public figure.

Other arguments erupted over catering, dresses, suits, and who to be the maids of honour, but all these bumps managed to be smoothed out before the big day, which Domyouji had chosen to coincide with their first date - the one in which he waited out in the snow for hours for her, an event he kept choosing to remind her about.

The wedding day, a clear, sunny day, arrived, and was to take place on the grand lawns of the Domyouji estate, which, after the work of the gardeners and other staff, looked so much more beautiful that it even did before that it looked as though it came straight out of a fairytale.

The guests were all seated outside against the beautiful backdrop of the grand Domyouji mansion, where they were subjected to waiting for the bride to arrive. Like any true bride, Tsukushi arrived late (due to certain dress troubles caused by Mama), much to the anticipation of the crowd and in particular, Domyouji Tsukasa.

A very, very proud and well dressed Papa gave his daughter away. Papa even managed to look dignified for the short period of time as they walked down the aisle towards a beaming Domyouji, but just before he reached the end of the aisle, Papa, overcome with emotion, began sniffling and tearing up, much to Tsukushi's embarrassment (luckily, hidden by her veil).

Papa proceeded to hand Tsukushi over to Domyouji, who, looked so happy that he himself look like he would cry too. They signed their marriage certificate, exchanged their rings, promised to be with each other 'til death do them part, declared their "I do" to each other and sealed this promise with a kiss.

This was the start of married life for the couple.

* * *

"Phew. It's finally over!" sighed Tsukushi, flopping down onto the king sized bed after coming out of the bathroom, fresh, cleaned, and slightly wrinkled from a long, relaxing bath. She stretched herself out like a lazy cat over the big bed. "Ahh... heavenly." 

They were at the Kaede hotel, where they were going to spend a few days at the presidential suite before jetting off to a round-the-world honeymoon - courtesy of Domyouji's private jet, and staying at various mansions owned by the Domyouji family in various countries.

Domyouji was lounging next to her as he read the newspaper, its headlines proclaiming the fairytale wedding of a certain young millionaire to a certain common girl. He had looked up at her as she came out, and smirked at her utter lack of lady-likeness as she groaned, stretching her various limbs.

"You'd better watch how you behave at home," snickered Domyouji, folding down his newspaper slightly so she can see his smirk. "Now that you have officially become a Domyouji, you're a public figure. Your every move will be reported by the paparazzi -- even the way you behave in private."

"Sounds weird, huh?" mused Tsukushi. "Being a Domyouji... Domyouji Tsukushi."

She couldn't help but snort at the very strange way her name now sounded.

"What's so funny about that?!" scowled Domyouji. "It's your fortune to have met the most handsome man alive and become a Domyouji."

"Whatever," retorted Tsukushi lamely, though secretly, she had to admit that it was indeed her fortune to meet a man who loved her so much.

"Anyway, _I _don't think it's funny," declared Domyouji haughtily. "Domyouji Tsukushi sounds very fine to me."

"I may now be a Domyouji by name, but your mother still doesn't fully approve of me," sighed Tsukushi. "I still think she hasn't gotten over the silly plan that _you _hatched four years ago."

"You know, the only way for Mother to accept you is ..."

"What, genius?"

_Why am I getting a sense of deja vu?_ thought Tsukushi.

Domyouji leant closer to her.

"...if you were pregnant to me and were carrying the future heir to Domyouji Enterprises," he whispered in her ear. "For real."

* * *

**Welcome to the end of Family Planning!**

Woah! Finally finished (UNDER ONE YEAR!) what I started randomly one day when the idea popped into my head and just wouldn't go away! It was on a whim that I wrote up the first chapter and aptly named it _Family Planning_. I didn't really actually give time to think of the title; it just popped up and it felt so right.

I can't believe that people actually read it! Well, thank you for sticking with me to the end! The thing that made me most happy was to know that there were people who enjoyed this; it made it all worthwhile to write it up and mull over ideas for it. So, **thank you readers! I love you all! **I'd be a liar if I said I didn't like reviews (though I would never sink so low as to say I will not update if I didn't get x number of reviews), so I think I will tell you all this - I loved and cherished each and every review for the story! Thank you!

Anyway, to anyone who was wondering about which cameo characters and references I put in (which, I am sure, some of you may have figured out some of them):

Chapter 5 - Maya - name taken from Maya Fey from the Phoenix Wright series, my favourite game. Seriously. Best. Game. Ever.  
Chapter 7 - Tomoyo Daidouji's Costume Shop - Tomoyo Daidjouji from Cardcaptor Sakura.  
Chapter 8 - Laguna Loire - from Final Fantasy 8. Rita Sukita - Japanese version of Rita Skeeter, from the Harry Potter series.  
Chapter 10 and 11 - Shinichi Kudo, Hattori Heiji, Inspector Megure, Gin, Vodka, Sherry and Tequila - all from Detective Conan.  
Chapter 15 - Naruhodou and Mitsurugi - from Phoenix Wright/Gyakuten Saiban.  
Chapter 16 - Akagi, Kaji and Katsuragi - from Neon Genesis Evangelion.  
Chapter 17 - Matsumoto Jun - played Domyouji in the live drama of Hana Yori Dango. Had him make a cameo appearance for fun. Takumi/Trapnest - from NANA.  
Chapter 18 - Abe Tsuyoshi, Matsuda Shota, Oguri Shun - the respective actors for Akira, Soujiro and Rui in the drama.

Now that it's all over, I'm writing a Rui x Tsukushi since I need a change :) It'll be different to this one; it will come with 25 percent more melodrama! Please take a peek at it! (end shameless plug)

I'm also thinking of writing an AU -- well, hope you guys will read it in the future!


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